The Beijing Science Festival is helping draw more Chinese kids to the wonderful world of science, Wang Ru reports.

At the magic moment when Paul Taylor squeezed out a little jelly into a plastic bucket full of "mysterious" matter, a flaming blaze erupted, lighting up the white pavilion and a human skeleton model beside him.

A group of excited elementary school students around him burst into a scream, shattering the quiet of a rainy Beijing afternoon.