Winner of four Academy Awards this year, The Shape of Water, which follows a mute cleaning woman's love for a captured amphibian creature in a high-security government laboratory, is set to open across Chinese mainland theaters on Friday.[Photo provided to China Daily]

The Shape of Water's China release comes soon after it bags best picture at this year's Academy Awards. Xu Fan reports.

Mexican director Guillermo del Toro's home, which is located in the outskirts of Los Angeles, has a bronze statuette of the Chinese mythological superhero Monkey King.

The epitome of heroism from the 16th-century Chinese novel Journey to the West is a household name in China. But for Toro, whose movie The Shape of Water bagged four Academy Awards this year, including best picture and best director, Monkey King symbolizes a beautiful figure surrounded by other characters in the novel in their own quest for perfection.

"When I was a kid, I stumbled upon the story of Monkey King. What I love is that it's a character who is unruly, mischievous and very compelling," del Toro, 53, says during a recent video interview with Chinese media.