Unlike wood chopsticks, which I now use at home, those made with melamine are smooth, making it trickier to grip food. I eventually learned how to make do with what we had, it just took me some time.

Little Tong Noodle Shop also uses wood — specifically bamboo, for its sustainable qualities. “The material matters when it comes to selecting disposable chopsticks,” says Zhao.

Bubbles form on the chopstick whether you wet the tip or not because of the moisture in the wood. When that moisture is ...

Using hand tools to create a pair of wooden chopsticks. That's what you can do at a workshop this Thursday evening held at ...

Twisted wooden chopsticks come with fortune cookie chopstick rests. And there are pairs with gold flowers, tigers and even glitter. 119 Japanese Village Plaza Mall, Los Angeles, (213) 687-7080.

Visitors to Wood Works Kawagoe make their own chopsticks at the shop in Kawagoe, Japan. (Jennessa Davey/Stars and Stripes) This activity takes no more than 30 minutes.

"I've given a pair of personalized chopsticks as a gift to all the guests at my wedding ceremony," says 26-year-old newly Wed Victoria Duan. "Each pair of chopsticks is laser engraved with mine or ...

"I would be happy to stop using wooden chopsticks for environmental concerns, but some diners prefer them for hygiene reasons." Wang Yucheng, who runs a restaurant in Beijing, said.

China will tax disposable wooden chopsticks and luxury items such as yachts, the government says, citing a need to protect the environment and redress the gap between rich and poor.