Tintin makes return journey to Shanghai

Tintin has ventured again to Shanghai with the opening of the country's first flagship shop themed on the classic Belgian cartoon character, much welcomed by its Chinese fans spanning several generations.

Created in 1929 in the comic series The Adventures of Tintin by Belgian cartoonist Georges Remi, also known by his pen name Herge, the heroic reporter character had an adventure to Shanghai in the story The Blue Lotus published in 1936.

He was able to accomplish the journey thanks to his Chinese friend Chang Chong-Chen or Zhang Chongren, then a Shanghai architectural student in Belgium, to whom Herge had turned for help to create the story.