The Atlas Cement Memorial Museum is no longer the best kept secret in the Lehigh Valley.

Last week, a group of visitors came all the way from China to the Northampton museum, which celebrates the area's history of cement making. They found out about the museum via the Internet and decided they had to witness it for themselves.

Museum Curator Ed Pany and his Atlas Museum Trust Board comprised of Sally Madden and Larry Oberly gave red carpet treatment to Chinese visitors Guan Dong Ping, Hu Yanian, Hu Xinsheng, Jiang Sheng and Zhang Guoxiang. The visitors are curators of cement and copper museums in China including the Cement Relic Museum of Huangshi City, the Museum of Huangshi City, the Museum of Daye City and the former site of the Ancient Tonglushan Copper Mine.

"This is one of the most historic days for the museum," Pany said after the visit. "They left with a lot of excitement on their faces. They were as thrilled as I was having them."

Pany writes the Remembering historical column, which is published in the Catasauqua Press.

Large American and Chines flags hung over the museum entrance to greet the visitors as they walked through the portals of the Atlas museum, past the wall containing the 2,376 names of former Atlas workers on stainless steel plaques. Once inside, the Americans greeted the visitors with a brief ceremony. Northampton Mayor Thomas Reenock read a proclamation declaring the day was to be celebrated in their honor.

Coplay Mayor Joseph Bundra presented the delegation with a rare railroad lamp. Northampton Area School District Superintendent Joseph Kovalchik, who brought along some orange and black Konkrete Kids items including mugs, prompted Pany to say, "They should be filled with fine China tea, not Lipton's."

Pany gushed as the delegation admired the thousands of artifacts which tell the history of Atlas Cement and the community. Once the largest operating cement plant in the United States, Atlas and its workers provided the high quality cement for famous sites such as the Empire State Building in New York City and the Panama Canal.

With the aid of their interpreter, the visitors heard from the talking plaster horse, which was the museum's first piece. A mural, taking up a whole wall from the floor to the ceiling, impressed the group. Painted by Roger Firestone, the mural depicts various borough scenes and historic sites, Atlas lands and mills. Among the 18 former Atlas workers shown is Pany's father, Anthony.

Pany, a retired Northampton Area High School teacher, worked in the summers at the Atlas plant while attending college. As he mixed humor into his presentation, the visitors looked up at several baseball uniforms worn by cement company teams.

"Bring us some of your baseball and basketball players," said Pany, adding the Philadelphia 76s could use some help and the Phillies are not as good now as they were.

Intrigued by the colored painting of King Kong clinging to the top of the Empire State Building, the visitors snapped numerous pictures of the 3,000 artifacts.

The visitors seemed especially interested in a flag hung from the rafters with a large "E" on it for excellence. It commemorates the government's dispatching of representatives to tool shops across the country.

A somber moment took place as the curators viewed a large stark photograph of a worker's shoe in the Atlas locker room on the last day of Atlas operations in 1982.

Pany presented the visitors with several gifts, including Atlas cement bags. The visitors also brought gifts such as books and photos of their museum, jade jewelry and an offer of a trip for Pany and his wife, Barbara, and Reenock to visit China.