Shandong in eyes of people from SCO countries

"I really love Shandong, people here are really hospitable and I am living a really comfortable life now."

Artur showed his strong affection to Shandong. 

Born in 1998 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, he came to China in October 2016, and now learns Chinese in the International Education School of Weifang Vocational College. He has got the Chinese name of An Weixiong.

"Since my grandmother's father is Chinese, we celebrate many Chinese festivals like the Spring Festival, the Lantern Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival."

According to Artur, he loved his grandmother telling stories about China when he was very young. After he attended primary school, his father began to do business in China and spent about half of each year in China. Consequently, his father had many stories to tell about his experiences in China and with the Chinese people.

It was at the Confucius Institute that he truly felt the charm of Chinese culture for the first time. There are two Confucius Institutes in Bishkek where he learnt about Confucius, his hometown of Shandong and Confucianism.

He firstly thought of Shandong when he planned to study in China.

"I have been in Shandong for one and a half years. I love it here so much!" Artur can speak quite fluent Chinese now; additionally he can easily use Wechat, Alipay, the take-out app "Are You Hungry", bike share apps and taxi-hailing app Didi. He now feels much more like a Shandong native.

During holidays, Artur likes going out with friends and has been to Jinan, Zibo and Weifang, while now he is looking forward to traveling to Qingdao. 

"I heard that the SCO summit will be held in Qingdao soon. I do want to have a look," He said.