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Mermaid's birthday abroad

Updated: 2010-08-23 11:42

The Little Mermaid's 97th birthday, as well as the statue's first birthday abroad, was marked on Saturday with the start of a three-day celebration.

Sculptor Edvard Eriksen's statue of Hans Christian Andersen's fairytale The Little Mermaid was first unveiled on Aug 23, 1913, when it was placed beside Copenhagen harbor.

A Danish national symbol, the Little Mermaid was on display there until it was moved to the Denmark Pavilion in May for Shanghai Expo 2010, where it will remain for the duration of the event.

To celebrate the festive occasion, a series of commemorative activities were held over the weekend.

"We will give The Little Mermaid a big party on her first birthday away from home. This is a great opportunity to celebrate the Little Mermaid's presence in China and give our visitors the chance to have fun experiencing some of the best of Danish culture," Christopher Bo Bramsen, Commissioner General of the Denmark Pavilion, said as the celebrations began on Saturday.

The Tivoli Boys Guard, a group of boys aged 9 to 16, marched through the pavilion dressed in red coats, white trousers and bearskin hats while playing flutes and drums for visitors.

Theatre Madam Bach, led by Pernille Bach and Christian Schroder, presented a play for children called The Four Seasons, which took the audience through the four Danish seasons.

As paper cutting was a favorite hobby of the children's author who created The Little Mermaid, there was also a paper-cutting workshop jointly taught by Lu Xue, from China, and Soren Thaae, from Denmark.

Among the other activities, there was a reading of fairy tales written by the author and a mermaid stone where visitors could pose for photos in which they look like the fabled sea creature.

The festivities will culminate with a great splash on the Little Mermaid's actual birthday on Monday, when a round of happy birthday will be sung to the statue, followed by a water show.

"It is a Danish tradition to celebrate The Little Mermaid's birthday with girls of all ages jumping into the water by her spot in Copenhagen harbor," said Bramsen.

Three female Danish synchronized swimmers, headed by Mette Markussen, and male dancer/choreographer Tore Munch will present a performance about mermaids, love and fairy tales in the harbor pool at the center of the pavilion.

The show deals with the classic theme of a love divided by two different worlds - the kind of love that the Little Mermaid suffers in the fairy tale.

A specially designed Mermaid Stamp will also be launched on Monday for visitors to the pavilion.

Zhang Keying, a 4-year-old Chinese girl who shares the same birthday as the Little Mermaid, will present the statue with a flower and be the first guest to receive the Mermaid Stamp on her special day.

去聽寫專區一展身手

（中國日報網英語點津 Helen 編輯）

About the broadcaster:

Mermaid's birthday abroad

Nelly Min is an editor at China Daily with more than 10 years of experience as a newspaper editor and photographer. She has worked at major newspapers in the U.S., including the Los Angeles Times and the Detroit Free Press. She is fluent in Korean and has a 2-year-old son.