The return of the Little Mermaid.
Since the Danish Expo 2010 project was introduced in 2008, the story about the Little Mermaid's trip to the Expo in Shanghai has gained much media coverage.
Now the Little Mermaid is back on Langelinie in Copenhagen.
Among the guests to welcome her back, we saw the Chinese Ambassador in Denmark, Mr. Xie Hangsheng and the Danish Minister of Economics and Business Affairs, Mr. Brian Mikkelsen.
The Little Mermaid is one of Denmark's biggest tourist attractions and has been sitting on Langelinie in Copenhagen since 1913.
The idea to move The Little Mermaid from Copenhagen to Shanghai was a gesture of cultural generosity and also an invitation to open a cultural dialogue between Denmark and China.
Organizers hoped that the Chinese public would enjoy getting a close look at the Little Mermaid and expected that she would contribute to making the Danish Pavilion popular among visitors.
Visitors at the Expo had the opportunity to try some of the best aspects of Danish city life themselves by riding around the Little Mermaid on a bike like true Copenhageners or having an organic picnic in the roof garden.
Around 6 million people viewed the iconic symbol of the Danish capital.
The statue illustrating Hans Christian Andersen's famous fairytale character created by sculptor Edvard Eriksen was donated to the city of Copenhagen by patron of art Carl Jacobsen, son of the founder of Carlsberg Breweries.
Ballerina Ellen Price, who danced the lead role in the ballet of The Little Mermaid in 1909, and made a great impression on Carl Jacobsen, inspired the statue. As Ellen Price, however, did not want to pose in the nude, the statue was modeled on the sculptor's wife Eline Eriksen. The statue, cast in bronze, is only 125 cm tall and weighs 175 kg.
While in Shanghai, the Little Mermaid's place in Copenhagen was temporarily taken over by a work created by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei.
Reports say before the Little Mermaid moved to Shanghai, the Copenhagen's city council voted to allow the city's famous Little Mermaid sculpture leave its historic perch over the port for a controversial visit to China.
After three counter proposals and nearly an hour of debate, the municipal council approved sending the iconic statue to the 2010 Shanghai World Expo by a vote of 36 for and 12 against, with two abstentions.
