THREE Dorking schools have welcomed a party of Chinese pupils as part of a cultural exchange programme.
The youngsters, from Changzheng Centre Primary School in the Putuo district of Shanghai, came as guests of St Martin's, St Joseph's and The Weald primary schools and enjoyed a mixture of tourist and educational activities throughout their stay.
Teachers and Year 5 pupils from The Weald kicked off the visitors' experience with a train trip to London for a bus ride, a boat trip, a picnic in St James's Park and a visit to the Science Museum.
This was followed by a day trip to Brighton for a walk on the pier and beach, a tour of the famous Lanes, a traditional fish and chip meal on the seafront and a visit to Arundel Castle.
Weald head teacher Sharon Davis said the visiting teachers told her it was the first time Chinese pupils had visited England, as far as they knew.
She told the Advertiser: "It was brilliant. The children had lots of tastes of English culture, like going shopping and bowling.
"At each school there was half a day of cultural exchange, so they showed us things and we showed them things about our cultures.
"St Joseph's did Scottish dancing and the Chinese showed them some of their traditional dances.
"Here we did PE lessons, because their PE is very different to ours. They demonstrated a keepy-uppy game which involves a weighted feather and a board where they kick things with their feet.
"We also had a Q&A session where the children asked each other lots of question. The Chinese were very interested in food, sport and hobbies."
The partnership with Changzheng, facilitated by Jennie Clarke of The Ashcombe School, has been in operation for four years and has previously seen Year 5 children visit China.
Mrs Davis hosted five Chinese children at her home throughout their stay whom she said were "a delight" throughout.
She said: "We put them up in our homes to cut down on the costs and to allow them to really experience life in this country.
"They had breakfast with us and evening meals, and they were absolutely delightful children, so polite and sociable."
She added: "It was lovely for the English children too as they really got to know them well. A few e-mail addresses were exchanged."
The children and their teachers returned to China after six activity-packed days.
