McDull, a cartoon piglet as famous as Mickey Mouse and Hello Kitty, in Hong Kong, leaves his hometown for the first time for a trip to learn kungfu in the mainland.

"McDull Kungfu Ding Ding Dong" ("Maidou Xiang Dangdang" in Chinese), based on serial comic books by co-creators Alice Mak and Brian Tse, follows the pig's tai chi experience on Mount Wudang, a sacred site for Chinese kungfu in Hubei province. It is the first time the Hong Kong-born piglet has visited the mainland and Mak, the illustrator, says his change in location is truthful to reality.

"What I draw is ordinary Hong Kong people's lives," she says. "They have been rushing to the mainland to do business in recent years. Hong Kong people do not wait, but always look for new opportunities."

Created in 1988, McDull is a child in an ordinary Hong Kong family. He is slow, poor and naive. Although none of his little dreams are realized, he never gives up hope.

"McDull is like many common Hong Kong children who are not smart or pretty," says Mak. "But he has his own silly dreams and tries his best to achieve them. He is happy in the process."

This summer McDull's life is not much better. While other children go to New Zealand to ski, or Britain to visit the Harry Potter film set, McDull is left alone on the mountain, while his single mother has to do business in mainland cities.

Even so, McDull works hard to practice tai chi, in order to compete in the "International Kindergarten Martial Arts Competition."

The film marks McDull's debut on the big screen in the Chinese mainland, where the piglet has numerous fans, too. In Shanghai some theaters have pre-sold more than 2,000 tickets in two days.

The latest McDull film premieres in the mainland today and Hong Kong on Aug 3, in Mandarin or Cantonese depending on the theaters.