14MAR07 Tintin in Tibet!

For my Birthday this year, and in light of our planned trip to Tibet, Dee gave me a copy of "Tintin in Tibet" - the classic Herge graphic novel and twentieth book in the series. It is said to have been Hergé's favourite of the Tintin series.
The Plot: Tintin has a dream about Chang, the boy he made friends with in China back in the adventure of "The Blue Lotus." In the dream Tintin sees Chang lying in the snow, half buried, holding out his hands and calling to Tintin to help him. When Tintin gets a letter from Chang he is surprised at the remarkable coincidence, but then he reads in the newspaper that Chang's plane has crashed in Tibet. Tintin, convinced his friend is not dead, goes off to the land of the ice and snow to save his friend.

The story is unlike any previous Tintin books, before or since: there are no enemies and only a small number of characters - in this rather special Tintin story, our hero is aided only by Snowy and Captain Haddock. This is arguably the most poignant Tintin adventure, focusing on the power of loyalty and hope overcoming all obstacles and Hergé places a lot of obstacles in Tintin's way. I think what I like most about this story is about how Hergé keeps what are essentially a series of cliffhangers going and going but in a realistic manner, while still working in the series trademark humor with Snowy and the Captain. "Tintin in Tibet" is an atypical Tintin adventure, but that just makes it all the more special.

"Tintin in Tibet" was in the news several years ago when it was announced that the Chinese translation had the story as "Dingding in Chinese Tibet." Given that Fanny Rodwell, Hergé's widwow, is reported to be a personal friend of the Dalai Lama it is not surprising that she decided not to attend the promotional ceremonies in China for the launching of the Chinese language version of Tintin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tintin_in_Tibet

In Tokyo recently, I found an entire shop specializing in Tin Tin brand goods and purchased Tintin and Snowy characters to take along on our trip to photograph at various iconic locations as an homage to this great character. Enjoy!
(Click on Pic to enlarge.)
...at the Potala Palace in Lhasa....

...and at Deplung Monastery near Lhasa.....