Local legend has it that an angel descended to earth one day and fell in love with the beauty of the land around the South China Sea. Reluctant to return home, she turned herself into a fisher girl, weaving nets and searching for precious pearls to earn a living. In addition, she unselfishly used her knowledge and powers to heal villagers who were ill, and so she was well loved by one and all.
Soon she met a young fisherman named Hai Peng and they fell in love. Not long after, however, Hai Peng listened to malicious accusations and demanded the fisher girl to give him her magical bracelets as a token of her affection. The fisher girl tearfully explained the origin of the bracelets. While she was still the daughter of the South Sea Dragon King, the eight bracelets were given to her by the eight palace mistresses, to guard her against the thought of abandoning immortality. She would die if she even removed one.
Tragically, Hai Peng did not believe her story and turned to leave. The fisher girl, to prove her love for Hai Peng, removed her bracelets and died in his arms instantly.
Hai Peng was filled with remorse and grief. His great sorrow moved the Jiu Zhou Huan Elder, who taught him the way to bring the fisher girl back to life. For this he had to go to the Jiu Zhou Island to find the Resurrection Grass, which had to be fed with man's blood. After much difficulty, Hai Peng found the grass and grew it with his own blood. Days turned to years, and the grass was finally ready and used to revive the fisher girl. Henceforth, the fisher girl became a true mortal.
On the day of their wedding, all the girls in the village together found a gigantic, magical pearl at the seashore. In gratitude, the fisher girl presented this to the reverent Elder.
Isn't that a lovely story for such a lovely statue? She's 9 meters high and weighs 10 tons. She's very impressive -- sort of the Statue of Liberty of Zhuhai.
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