Liu Minxia

    mllmx@msn.com

    IN ancient China, international marriages played a key role in promoting cultural exchange as well as peace. Now, love across borders has inspired Shi Yunpeng, who has brought traditional Polish amber jewelry to the ICIF.

    Exhibiting in Hall 9, the 28-year-old man from Dalian, Liaoning Province, talked over the weekend about his love story with Polish woman Aleksandra Naydenova. Their presence at the fair caught more eyes than their amber products.

    “These are amber products imported from Poland,” Shi said, trying to focus visitors’ attention on the fancy items at the booth, which his 25-year-old wife and parents helped tend.

    But it seemed his efforts had little effect, as they more often than not gave rise to questions such as, “This beautiful lady comes from Poland?” and, “She helped you find the gems?” and, “Where and how did you meet?”

    A frequent exhibitor at fairs all over China, Shi’s become used to the reactions. “We met three years ago in Germany, where I was a jazz student and she was on a leisure visit,” Shi recalled. Naydenova, known to her friends and family as Sasha, loves to dance, and music was a language they both spoke, in addition to German and English.

    Their love at first sight developed further after Sasha returned home and even after Shi went back to China after graduation. Sasha eventually came to Dalian to learn Chinese at a college.

    Sasha’s father owns amber mines and processing factories in Poland and she is one of two children in her family. After they got married a year ago, Shi and Sasha decided to help Andrei, her father’s company, explore the Chinese market, so they opened a firm named after Sasha.

    Attending fairs is a fast way to let more Chinese learn about Baltic amber, Shi said. After exhibiting at six fairs this year, Shi said, sales are soaring.

    “Baltic amber is the most highly valued form of amber and a subject of fascination for centuries,” said Shi, who now has many stories about amber to tell.