EAST met west as Chinese students received a warm welcome from the mayor of Worcester.

The students from Meiling middle school in Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province, met the mayor of Worcester, Cllr Steve Mackay, in the mayor's parlour at Worcester Guildhall today (Saturday).

The cultural exchange is organised between Meiling and the Chantry School in Martley and has been running for the last seven years.

The mayor began by asking them about where they came from and they told him the city and surrounding areas contained more than four million people, not particularly populous by Chinese standards.

However, the mayor told them that their city was 'massive' compared to Worcester which only had a population of around 100,000.

The mayor went on to explain about the history of the Guildhall, telling them how it began life in the 1720s.

He told them the parlour where they were now sitting was once a civil court and that the building also once housed the criminal court.

However, many of the 40 students were more interested in the large ceremonial sword and the role of sword bearer, who Cllr Mackay explained was there traditionally to defend the mayor and his office.

He added as he drew the sword: "It's a very good sword but it's not sharp. I will only do that once because it's hard to get it back in again. It's very, very heavy.

"The sword bearer goes first to protect the mayor. He's really protecting the chain which is very valuable. It's solid gold."

The children, all aged around 14, took photos of each other wearing the mayor's chain of office and passed around the silver maces and the ceremonial sword.

The mayor explained that when the Queen visited the maces were held against the shoulder but upside down to show that she was now in authority.

Outside the mayor explained to the children about king Charles II whose statue forms part of the frontage of the Guildhall.

During the course of their visit, their first to England, they visited Worcester Cathedral, Witley Court, West Midlands Safari Park in Bewdley, the Black Country Museum and also had the opportunity to do some shopping at Merry Hill. They also experience some lessons at Chantry. The children will later travel to London to complete some sightseeing.

Bob Allison, who has been teaching the children in China but was a teacher at the Chantry, said the students chose English names for themselves.

He said one of the things the students had mentioned to him was the quality of English fresh air compared to their home which can suffer from air pollution.

They also noticed the amount of open space and the beauty of the countryside. Mr Allison said most of the students lived in flats rather than individual houses.

Some of the children had hooded tops emblazoned with both the logo of their own school and that of Chantry.