Britain’s Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, paints the eyes of a sculpture of Shaun the Sheep, a British cartoon character, at the British ambassador’s official residence in Beijing yesterday. He launched a China-U.K. cultural event in Beijing yesterday as part of the first official visit to the Chinese mainland by a senior British royal in a generation. President Xi Jinping met with the prince, who also visited the Forbidden City, at the Great Hall of the People. William arrived in Beijing late Sunday after a four-day stay in Japan. He will attend the GREAT Festival of Creativity in Shanghai today and round off his visit to China tomorrow in Yunnan Province. The prince’s visit to China is the first by a senior British royal in nearly three decades, since Queen Elizabeth II’s tour in 1986.

    Xinhua