Copenhagen's Little Mermaid Statue Heads to Shanghai

She has been beheaded twice and has had her arm cut off, but Copenhagen's statue of The Little Mermaid, known from H.C. Andersen’s fairytale (and a certain animated movie, of course), has never left her native country. Until now, that is.

Yesterday, the statue began her journey to Shanghai, where she will be part of EXPO 2010. This means that around 70 million people will experience the iconic symbol of the Danish capital from May 1 to October 31 as part of a cultural exchange between Denmark and China.
 
The Little Mermaid will be situated in the Harbour Pool in the centre of the Danish Pavilion at EXPO 2010, where visitors will be able to ride around the Danish Pavilion on a city bike like a true Copenhagener, or have a picnic on the roof top. 
 

But visitors to Copenhagen needn't despair—they can still see the statue, but in a different way: Chinese artist Ai Weiwei has created a video installation to be installed at her spot, so tourists visiting the waterfront of Copenhagen won’t be disappointed.