Madrid schoolchildren tip hat to China with record for longest artisan-made paper

MADRID, May 27 (Xinhua) -- Madrid's historic Plaza Mayor was the scene for an event on Friday which saw 400 schoolchildren set a new record for the longest piece of artisan-made paper, organizers claim.

The 400 children from the San Isidro Institute, included a group of Chinese students, in order to pay homage to the fact that paper was first invented in China over 2,100 years ago.

The single sheet they made with the help of workers from the Meirat Foundation was 22 meters long and half a meter wide and was made in the same way paper was made 400 years ago, with two tons of water and 600 kg of linen used in its manufacture.

All of the students helped carry the paper, which was still wet, back to the San Isidro institute to allow it to dry.

In April 2017, the artisan paper will travel to China as part of a delegation of Spanish students participating in a cultural exchange.

The historic San Isidro Institute has been giving classes in both the Chinese language and handwriting for over 20 years.