"Zhou Yeling dragged herself out of bed at 5 a.m. for a long-awaited date with her favorite Englishman — Sherlock Holmes. Zhou, 19, watched the third season premiere of the BBC’s Sherlock on Jan. 2 on the British broadcaster’s website. Two hours later, the episode started showing with Chinese subtitles on Youku.com, a video website. Youku says it was viewed more than 5 million times in the first 24 hours, becoming the site’s most popular program to date. “I was excited beyond words,” said Zhou, a student in the central Chinese city of Changsha. Sherlock has become a global phenomenon, but nowhere more than in China, which was one of the first countries where the new season was shown. Online fan clubs have attracted thousands of members. Chinese fans write their own stories about the modern version of author Arthur Conan Doyle’s prickly, Victorian detective and his sidekick, Dr. Watson, to fill the time between the brief, three-episode seasons. In Shanghai, an entrepreneur has opened a Sherlock-themed cafe. Holmes is known in China as “Curly Fu,” after his Chinese name, Fuermosi, and star Benedict Cumberbatch’s floppy hair. Watson, played by Martin Freeman, is Huasheng, a name that sounds like Peanut in Mandarin. They have become two of the most popular terms in China’s vast social media world. “The Sherlock production team shoot something more like a movie, not just a TV drama,” said Yu Fei, a veteran writer of TV crime dramas for Chinese television. Scenes in which Holmes spots clues in a suspect’s clothes or picks apart an alibi are so richly detailed that “it seems like a wasteful luxury,” Yu said. Even the Communist Party newspaper People’s Daily is a fan. “Tense plot, bizarre story, exquisite production, excellent performances,” it said of the third season’s premier episode." - Anne Bouey

"With its mix of odd villains, eccentric aristocrats and fashionable London settings, Sherlock can draw on a Chinese fondness for a storybook version of Britain. Wealthy Chinese send their children to local branches of British schools such as Eton and Dulwich. Rolls Royce Motor Cars Ltd. says China passed the U.S. last year to become the biggest market for its luxury sedans. On the outskirts of Shanghai, a developer has built Thames Town, modeled on an English village with mock Tudor houses and classic red phone booths. “The whole drama has the rich scent of British culture and nobility,” Yu said. “Our drama doesn’t have that.” - Anne Bouey

"Appearing online gives Sherlock an unusual edge over Chinese dramas. To support a fledgling industry, communist authorities have exempted video websites from most censorship and limits on showing foreign programming that apply to traditional TV stations. That allows outlets such as Youku to show series that might be deemed too violent or political for state TV and to release them faster. “Our writers and producers face many restrictions and censorship. We cannot write about national security and high-level government departments,” Yu said. Referring to Mycroft Holmes, a shadowy government official and key character, Yu said, “Sherlock’s brother could not appear in a police drama in China.” - Anne Bouey

Curly Fu and Peanut! - Jessie