Journey to the West

Ever since Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck broke the Bamboo Curtain back in the day, China has been a prime target market for Western cartoon franchises - witness the runaway success of the Transformers and Kung Fu Panda I and II.

The ever-so-slightly controversial Spongebob Squarepants (a.k.a. 海绵宝宝）also ranks up there - after debuting on CCTV's Children's Channel in 2006, it's been among China's most popular cartoon imports, with an average audience exceeding 20 million (despite a ban by authorities on showing foreign cartoons between 5-9pm to protect China's fledgling animation industry).

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