First sight of Sarajevo

Sarajevo is the capital and economic and cultural center of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The screening of the former Yugoslav film "Walter Defends Sarajevo" in China made the city a household name in China; Sarajevo became famous around the world due to the outbreak of World War I and the contemporary Bosnian War.

The whole city of Sarajevo has a long and narrow shape running from east to west, with rolling hills to the north and south. From east to west, it is like a ribbon hanging in the east of the source of the picturesque Bosnian River in the Balkan Peninsula, surrounded by green mountains. Sarajevo has a pleasant climate, with rainy summers and snowy winters, making it a good place for tourism and vacation.

The city of Sarajevo is divided into 4 administrative districts: Old Town, Central Town, New Town, and New Sarajevo. The commercial street in the old city is unique and has a history of more than 500 years. It was built during the Ottoman Empire. The stone-paved old street has buildings on both sides showing Bosnian ethnic customs and Turkish style. Rows of handicraft shops are scattered in an orderly manner, mixed with cafes, barbecue restaurants and mosques.

Most of the central urban areas are classical buildings from the Austro-Hungarian Empire era. Catholic churches, Orthodox churches and Islamic mosque towers with numerous spiers are harmoniously distributed in the city. The strong Islamic atmosphere formed after the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina sometimes makes you feel like you are in the Arab world of the Middle East. This unique style is obviously very different from other traditional cities in Europe. Therefore, Sarajevo is now known as the Jerusalem of Europe.

The new city was built in the 1970s and 1980s. It has modern buildings and residential areas with an oriental style. A wide street, Bosnia Avenue, runs through the city. The clear blue Bosnia River tributary Miliyac River meanders from west to east, flanked by undulating hills. There are many residential houses built in rows, and the white houses and red tiles are particularly distinctive among the lush greenery. At night, when you climb high and look into the distance, you will see thousands of lights and starry lights, and the scenery is spectacular.

Our company has started to develop business in the European Balkans since 2022. Although it is relatively late, it has developed rapidly, especially in the country of Bosnia and Herzegovina, where we have met a good partner. Since the cooperation, many road and tunnel lighting projects have been completed. I moved to Bosnia and Herzegovina from Spain and planned an exploratory trip to this historic ancient city.

First of all, the customer took me to visit some of the lighting projects we participated in. The following is the road lighting of the winding mountain highway. The hotel I stayed in was on the mountainside.

We then walked along Bosnia Avenue, which runs through the city, and looked at the road lighting retrofit projects we were working on. This street lamp is installed on a 12-meter light pole. We used a 100W street lamp with a light efficiency of 160LM/W to transform the previous traditional street lamp, which was enough to save 50% of the electric energy and achieve sufficient brightness. This makes government customers very happy. And 2 years after installation, all the lights are working normally and shining as well as ever.

After that, I came to the famous Latin Bridge. The old name of Latin Bridge was Princip Bridge. This bridge was the scene of the Sarajevo Incident in which Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, the heirs to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, were murdered by Gavrilo Princip. The bridge used to be a wooden bridge, which was damaged in floods and rebuilt in 1798. In 1914, on the north side of the bridge, the Grand Duke and his wife were assassinated, triggering the First World War. The bridge was renamed Princip Bridge in honor of Yugoslav patriotism, but after the disintegration of Yugoslavia its name reverted to Latin Bridge. This bridge became famous because of the First World War and attracted a large number of tourists to check in.

Then, at night we visited the night market in the old town. The handicrafts here have hundreds of years of tradition, ranging from Turkish coffee sets, carved and hewn copper vases, various pots and jars, disc art to handmade wooden cigarette cases and jewelry. From decorative paintings showing the style of the old town of Sarajevo, various styles of gold and silver jewelry to handicrafts made from shell shells left over from the Bosnia-Herzegovina War, there is a dazzling array of things to see.

Small commodity street

The owner of an Islamic craft store

Towering islamic church

Although this is Europe, Islamic churches can be seen everywhere, and it feels like being in the Middle East. The difference is that most of the white Muslims here wear suits when working and are traditional Europeans; however, most of them regularly kneel on the ground to pray and recite words. Here, Catholicism, Orthodoxy, and Islam, despite some previous conflicts, have lived in peace for the most part. No wonder this place is called the "Jerusalem" of Europe.

Bosnia and Herzegovina is a hot land in the Balkans of Eastern Europe, and Sarajevo is a pearl of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Now more and more Chinese are beginning to travel to this country and start businesses, mostly from Zhejiang and Fujian. The people here are very friendly to the Chinese and hope to develop more economic and trade cooperation with China. I hope we can win more engineering projects here in the future, so that CHZ LIGHTING can emit more magical light in this magical land and contribute more to the construction of a new Bosnia and Herzegovina.