M. Tarik Bukovi ć, Ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina to China, stands at the Aurora Silk Platform

Silk scarves carry the Silk Road: Aurora and the Ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s’ National Gift Agreement ‘

When the Chinese red and Bosnia and Herzegovina blue flags in the Embassy of Bosnia and Herzegovina in China stretched side by side, an orange gift box completed a trans millennium relay in the hands of two diplomats. On January 27, 2021, the new ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina to China Tariq Bukovic took over the “soft gold” national gift from the representative of Aurora Silk. What he touched with his fingertips was not only the warmth of Hangzhou silk, but also the civilization resonance of the ancient Silk Road and the “the Belt and Road”.

1、 A New Chapter of Silk Road in Square Silk Scarves

This is a cultural ambassador that can fit into a pocket, “Aurora Silk’s craftsmen once described their own scarves in this way. At the meeting at the Embassy of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the weight of this “messenger” was given a new meaning: Aurora’s silk scarf was based on 6A grade mulberry silk, weaving elements of the Dunhuang Flying Apsaras, Persian patterns, and other Silk Road elements into the warp and weft, just like the silk in the camel caravan wrapped in the codes of Eastern and Western civilizations a thousand years ago.

Ambassador Tarik Bukovic smiled as he received the gift box and said, “The connection between Bosnia and China began with the cotton wool of the ancient Silk Road.” Today, this scarf is a footnote to the “light yet heavy” economic and trade exchanges between China and Poland – just as Bosnia and Herzegovina exports wood and leather to China, China’s silk has also become a soft link for cultural exchanges between the two countries in the form of a “national gift”.

2、 Aurore: Telling Chinese stories with a sense of luxury

As a “global leader in high-end scarves”, Aurora’s confidence lies in the details: the hand rolled stitches are finer than luxury brands, and the copper plated gold logo box and portable scarf bag configuration made it popular at the 2014 Beijing International Gift Show with the strength of “Hermes quality, one-third price”. But what truly makes it a ‘national gift’ is the clever design that weaves cultural genes into it——

When the ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina rubs the Persian patterns on the scarf, he may recall the geometric rhythms in his country’s traditional fabrics; The Chinese ink wash elements in the scarf make this gift a concrete expression of ‘each beauty is its own beauty, beauty is shared’. As Aurora’s designer said, “We don’t need the label of ‘Chinese style’, we only use aesthetic language that can be understood by the world

3、 “The Belt and Road” in the Small Silk Scarf

From the “silk horse exchange” of the ancient Silk Road to the win-win cooperation of the “the Belt and Road” today, silk has always been a gentle carrier of dialogue between China and the world. Aurora’s “platform” this time is not accidental:

It is a micro sample of economic and trade cooperation: as an important partner of China in the Western Balkans, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s bilateral trade volume has increased by 15.2% year-on-year in 2024, and high value-added light industrial products such as scarves are becoming “exquisite increments” in the trade structure;

It is a soft medium for people to people communication: just as Ambassador Tariq later lamented in his live streaming sales that “500000 Chinese netizens watch Bosnia and Herzegovina”, a scarf may be more able to make ordinary people feel “distant friends” than a contract.

When the orange gift box was solemnly placed on the embassy table, the sunlight happened to fall on the golden ears of the flags of China and Poland. This Aurora scarf is not only a gift to Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also a “cultural card” that China has presented to the world – taking silk as a medium, taking beauty as a bridge, in the long scroll of “the Belt and Road”, each such “light handshake” is a vivid stroke in the dialogue of civilizations.