Photo taken on Feb 26, 2019 shows Tintin products displayed at a Tintin shop in Shanghai. (Photo/Xinhua)
In 1934, Belgian cartoonist Georges Remi, known by his pen name Herge and as "the father of Tintin," met with Zhang Chongren, then a Shanghai architectural student in Belgium, to create his story "The Blue Lotus," which took place in the metropolis.
The character "Chang Chong-Chen" was based on Zhang and is the only character with a real-world origin in "The Adventures of Tintin."