As I mentioned earlier on the Forbidden Planet Blog, the hosts of the Belgian pavillion at the current World Expo in Shanghai, China are the Smurfs. My wife and her brother recently had the opportunity to visit the Expo, and decided to check out whether this was true. And indeed, right in front of the pavillion was a slightly-larger-than-expected Smurf enthousiastically waving at the visitors (see picture – the smurf is on the left, the other one’s my brother-in-law). It had already suffered a bit of the weather and the numerous people who simply had to touch it, but a Smurf it was.
Inside the pavillion, comics are presented as one of Belgium’s main contributions to the world, and here as well the Smurfs are present : each and every one has his portrait on a special wall, from Papa Smurf to Lazy Smurf to numerous “just Smurf” Smurfs (see after the click). Now, if there’s anybody who’s able to transcribe their Chinese names for me, I’d most welcome the input.
Here’s Chinese news station TantaoNews reporting on the arrival of the Smurfs in Shanghai.
