Danish Pavilion demonstrates Northern Europe's art of living

"The Little Mermaid" comes to the Huangpu River

She, the daughter of the sea, sits by the rock at the shore, watching the peaceful harbor; she, who has experienced hardships such as breaking her arms but was still able to bravely recover her perfect figure, tells people the touching fairy tale…… She is the little mermaid statue, the national treasure of Denmark and well-known symbol of the city of Copenhagen. In 2010, she will depart from her hometown, which she has watched for more than 90 years, and "swim" to the Huangpu River and come to the Danish pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo in order to meet the Chinese visitors. For the Chinese people who love Anderson and his fairy tales, the bronze mermaid statue, which is modeled after a figure in the Daughter of the Sea, one of Anderson's fairy tales, will impress them deeply during their visit to the Expo.

Danish Pavilion

In the eyes of many Chinese people, Anderson and his "little mermaid" are symbols of Denmark. After the media reported the news about her coming to Shanghai, many people showed keen interest and are eager to see her. Susanne Hyldelund, the Danish commissioner general in Shanghai, obviously noticed the Chinese people's warm response, she therefore said in an interview with a reporter from this newspaper, "Asking the little mermaid to come here is the highlight of the Danish pavilion, and it has drawn an enthusiastic response from people all around China, which is also an indication of how successful our innovation is."

While the little mermaid is in Shanghai at the Shanghai World Expo, will Copenhagen lose some of its charm? Will the residents of Copenhagen be "sad" because they miss her? Regarding these things, Hyldelund said that many Chinese friends have shown concern about these things. She thinks that certainly there will be some effect on the residents of Copenhagen, but they know that the little mermaid goes to China as an angel of the friendship and she will be back soon. Furthermore, as one of the cultural exchange activities, the relevant department has arranged for the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei to design a piece of art to be put on display in Copenhagen in the mermaid's usual spot, so local visitors can see it. During the Shanghai World Expo, through video the Danish people will be able to keep track of the little mermaid at the Danish Pavilion and they will be able to see how popular the mermaid is in China.

"Currently, I am very worried that Chinese people will be disappointed. Because they have a very rich and beautiful imagination as well as high expectations for the bronze mermaid statue from reading Anderson's fairy tale, yet the statue is actually very small so the visitors probably will be disappointed when they see her," said Hyldelund.