Fifteen teenagers from China recently stayed in Catasauqua homes while visiting the area as part of a summertime exchange student program.

"They ranged in age from 13 to 16," said Lorry Bradley, who managed the group of touring Chinese students for Compass International, a foreign exchange student program.

"Their escorts are in their early 20s," she said.

Local families hosted the group for their nine-day tour.

Dawn Emery's family was one of them.

"They did a lot of shopping," she said of the visitors.

According to Forbes magazine, the hottest-selling smartphone in China is the Xiaomi Mi-One at a cost of $320.

However, Apple's iPhone 4S is the status symbol phone for Chinese citizens.

Although assembled in China, the 4S sells for $790 there, so those who could afford the 4S picked one up here for much less than they would pay at home.

"The iPad is even more expensive over there, so everyone was taking advantage of the bargains," Emery said.

Newly purchased digital cameras also found their way into the student's backpacks.

While here for nine days of their monthlong U.S. tour, the group took an escorted tour of Philadelphia with stops at all the required sites from the Liberty Bell to Constitution Hall.

Students also spent part of a day in a Catasauqua Middle School classroom in Janine Hemond's class on English and history. Hemond is a former CMS teacher who now serves as a substitute teacher.

"They were very respectful in class and eager to learn which is a change," she said.

Hemond commented that the Chinese students knew more about American history than some of her American students.

"They adapted well," Hemond said. "They knew some English when they came here, as it is part of what they are required to study in China, but they improved their skills between the class and staying with kids in the host families."

Catasauqua families who hosted students were Michelle Andino, Mike and Belinda Rusnock, Ali and Brian Monahan, Amy and Jake Hess, Dawn and Greg Emery, Michelle and Marty Reinhart, Cindy Drummer, Julie Stauffer, Cindy and Tony Urso, Dawn and Curt Wegfhart, Marissa and Mark Bartholomew and Lorry and Steve Bradley. "It was a hectic week, but I think they would all do it again," Bradley said of the hosts.

While many Chinese natives have names difficult for Americans to pronounce and remember, this group of students eased that challenge for the host families by adopting Americanized names for the tour, like Jackson, Leon and Oscar.

According to Bradley, the tour is part of a friendship program between the two nations. The students get to spend time in various parts of America over the summer vacation before returning to China while American students are traveling the Yangtze River and checking out Shanghai and Beijing.

Their stay with Catasauqua families was the first stop on their tour, which also included visits to Washington, D.C., Princeton, N.J., Boston, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Chinese students and their host families held a farewell picnic at the North Catasauqua's Park July 27, at the conclusion of their stay. Although original plans may have included shooting some baskets or playing a game or two of volleyball, rain chased them under the cover of the pavilion roof.

There, a group escort nicknamed Leon sang Chinese songs, and a student whose temporary moniker was Jackson performed a rendition of his "Thriller" dance routine to honor his adopted namesake and to entertain the crowd. Despite the weather, the music and the food were plentiful as the group dodged the evening deluge of rain, and there were smiles all around.

According to Emery, the students had, during their visit to the Lehigh Valley, skipped the local Chinese food emporiums, instead opted for cheesesteaks, pizza and fast food delights.

"They really liked American food," she said.