[Video provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Confucius once said: "It is always a pleasure to greet a friend from afar."

Shandong has a tradition of being hospitable since ancient times.

One of the defining characteristics of Shandong people, a number of whom are prototypical heroes in China, is being straightforward and benevolent. That is demonstrated in novel characters that are from Shandong, like Qin Qiong, Cheng Yaojin, Wu Song and Li Kui, all of whom have stocky and imposing builds, drink liquor from big bowls, devour meat with large bites, and stick together in both good and bad times.