Chinese fans are head over heels in love with Sherlock

Benedict Cumberbatch has become a heartthrob to Chinese fans of the BBC TV series Sherlock. Provided to China Daily

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Benedict Cumberbatch has become a "male god" to Chinese fans of the BBC television series Sherlock, and is nicknamed Curly Fu in China, a name that combines the actor's screen image and the pronunciation of Sherlock Holmes in Chinese. Cumberbatch's Holmes is not exactly a people person. His moods swing high and low. How does such a character become a heartthrob?

The actor commented on his character in a recent interview: "He's got a God complex. I think he thinks he's not human, so therefore anyone that is is just a letdown to him."

It could be the unreachable perfection that charms the ordinary. Sherlock writer Steven Moffat explains that Arthur Conan Doyle's original stories had a huge female following, and that's because "the Victorian ladies liked the way Sherlock looked", Moffat said.

"So I thought, use this massively exciting, rather handsome man who could see right through your heart and have no interest ... Of course, he's going to be a sex god! ... I think our female fan base all believe that they'll be the one to melt that glacier. They're all wrong - nothing will melt that glacier."

The series first aired in 2010, and when it became available on a Chinese video site in March 2011, it received more than 24 million views.

One month ago, series three was launched on Youku, a Chinese video-hosting website. It received almost 3 million hits overnight. Avid fans filled the Internet and there are forums dedicated to Curly Fu and Peanut's relationship - Peanut has similar pronunciation to Watson in Chinese, and it is a "cute" nickname given by his Chinese fans.

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