The Lord Mayor of Bradford discussed the beauty of his city with a group of lecturers from China.

Councillor Abid Hussain joined the lecturers from Shaanxi Polytechnic Institute as they celebrated the end of a three-month educational programme with Bradford College.

The 10 lecturers, who specialise in areas such as engineering, computing, construction and marketing, have been with the college over the summer to improve their English and to experience different teaching methods and practices.

During their stay they have observed teaching at the college, visited companies offering vocational training, including the Jaguar Land Rover plant in Liverpool and a building site in Leeds run by Wates Construction.

The trip hasn’t been all work for the visiting academics though with cultural outings taking them to numerous places of interest including London, Manchester, York and Edinburgh.

But, to the delight of the Mayor, they insisted that Bradford was the most beautiful place they had visited with Saltaire, Haworth and the city centre impressing them the most.

“I am pleased you will take home with you great memories from Bradford,” the Mayor told them after presenting them with certificates at the end of their stay.

“Bradford welcomes you to come back anytime.”

Kirstin Sawyer, head of school of Education and Professional Studies, at Bradford College, said: “The group has been a pleasure to work with and we have learnt a lot too. They made some very interesting observations about our teaching practices in comparison with their experience in China which gave us much food for thought.”

One of the visiting teachers said: “It has been a special experience of my life. We are honoured to study at Bradford College. The teachers are very friendly and skilful and in Bradford people are very friendly. It has been a happy time in a beautiful city.”

The group returned to China yesterday.