Middle-school students visiting from China were given T-shirts and sweets-filled mugs during their visit to an Oregon City Council session, but the most treasured gift could be the mayoral proclamation each received.

"They're going to be so excited," Valerie Virag, regional director of the American Cultural Exchange Service, said about the proclamation as the students awaited the start of the meeting.

Oregon Mayor Michael J. Seferian proclaimed Feb. 6 Chinese Youth Ambassador Exchange Group Recognition Day. In the proclamation punctuated by more than one "whereas," Mr. Seferian said that as mayor he has "the privilege to recognize people, organizations, businesses, and events that have affected our community," and that the American Cultural Exchange Service has the opportunity to be host for the first time to students from China ranging in age from 11 to 13. During their three-week stay, they were to attend and meet middle-school children from Rossford, Genoa, and Oregon schools, improve their conversational English, learn about American living, and share their Chinese culture.

The 18 middle-school-aged students, who speak some English, were on a tour of northwest Ohio as part of a program through the cultural exchange service. Their stops included a Rossford school board meeting, the Imagination Station in downtown Toledo, and the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Mich.

The visitors, who attend the 1,600-student Lanzhou No. 35 Middle School in northwest China, stayed with local families. The students and their chaperones departed Sunday for their return trip to the Gansu province.

After reading the proclamation, Mayor Seferian declined to try to pronounce the students' names because he didn't want to say them incorrectly, but each student received a copy of the document.

Shu Yuan Fan, 13, who used the name of "Jennifer" during her visit to the United States, said she wanted to take part in the cultural exchange because "America is very interesting. In China, we have more tall buildings. In America, it is very quiet. In China, it is very busy."

Chinese student Hao Jiang, whose American name was "Harry Potter," shortened to "Potter," said he was eager to "study and to visit the United States and to learn about American history and culture." He was startled to see so many large, single-family homes, and he was interested to learn that in contrast to the Chinese, who like to play table tennis as a hobby, Americans prefer baseball and football.

Students, flanked by Oregon officials, posed for photographs, and when Mayor Seferian said the council session might run into midnight, the group promptly vacated the room.

At a table set up in the nearby hallway, students welcomed gifts of T-shirts -- white, blue, gray, or orange, all with the city's logo -- and blue Oregon, Ohio, mugs, printed with "City of Opportunity." Candies, wrapped in cellophane and tied with blue curling ribbon, accented each of the city of Oregon mugs.