Chang Chong-Chen

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Chang Chong-Chen (originally romanized as Tchang Chong-Chen in French) is a character from The Adventures of Tintin series of classic comic books drawn and written by Hergé. Based upon Zhang Chongren, a real friend of Hergé, Chang is perhaps Tintin's dearest friend, and is the only character for whom Tintin ever sheds a tear. In his first appearance Chang is ten years old. In his second appearance he is in his mid-teens.

Chang first appears in The Blue Lotus, as a young orphan who Tintin saves from drowning and befriends. Chang shows his wit at fooling Thompson and Thomson as they arrest Tintin, and is courageously helping Tintin defeat the evil plots of Mitsuhirato and Rastapopoulos. He is later adopted by Wang Yen-Chi.

Chang later appears in Tintin in Tibet, which concerns Tintin and Haddock's mission to find Chang in the Himalayas when his plane crashes. The book is perhaps Hergé's most deeply personal. When he wrote it, he had not seen the real-life Chang for several decades. Later, in 1981, the French media managed to find Chang in China and arrange a trip to Europe for a reunion with Hergé. In 1985, he received French citizenship and settled in Paris to teach, where he died in 1998.

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