Taiwanese cartoonist Zhu Deyong

Hangzhou, the capital city of east China's Zhejiang Province is to spend around US$40 million building a museum dedicated to the art of Zhu Deyong, a well-known Taiwanese cartoonist, according to media reports in Taiwan.

The comic museum will be the first of its kind on Chinese mainland. The foundation stone will be laid during the Fifth China International Cartoon & Animation Festival in late April. Mr. Zhu is the first Chinese comic artist to receive such treatment.

The museum will be located near Baima (White Horse) Lake, an area the local government aims to build into a comic industry hub. Hangzhou hopes the museum will become one of the city's cultural landmarks.

Zhu Deyong, a Taiwan native, became famous on the island in the 1990s when he sold over 1 million copies of his comics. He then expanded his career into the mainland and established himself as one of the best-selling comic artists with sales of over 10 million. His works are loaded with observations on modern life and have inspired a large number of TV shows and several stage plays.

The Hangzhou government had already converted several old country houses by Baima Lake for Mr. Zhu to use as residential studios, before coming up with the museum idea.

(China.org.cn by Pang Li, April 14, 2009)