On the hilltop of Lotus Park in Shenzhen's downtown, a grand statue stands sentinel. The 6-meter-tall bronze likeness of Deng Xiaoping overlooks the whole city, as if the "chief architect" of China's reform and opening-up policy is watching every step of progress his brainchild has enabled.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of visitors from all across the world come to visit the site, hoping to get a better understanding of how Deng and the policy he initiated have led Shenzhen to achieve an economic miracle.

Huang Songmei has visited the statue four times. The 66-year-old retiree from eastern Jiangxi province first came to Shenzhen 28 years ago, but it was not until 2012 that she moved to the city permanently with her son.

"Every time I stand here, I can recall my youth. There was no adequate food, no television, no air conditioners, no mobile phones. It was the reform and opening-up policy initiated by Deng that has made our lives much better than before," she says.

The idea of erecting the Deng Xiaoping statue in Shenzhen originated in 1994, two years after the late Chinese leader made his historic tour to Shenzhen, known as the "Southern Tour". During his trip, he made a famous speech, calling for further emancipation of the mind and acceleration of reform and opening-up.

After three years of examinations and negotiations, the local government finally decided to place it in Lotus Park.