Taiwanese actor Barbie Hsu, who rose to fame as the romantic lead in the 2001 television drama Meteor Garden, has died of influenza aged 48, her sister said on Monday.
Often known by her nickname "Big S", Hsu died on a family holiday in Japan, explained her sister Dee Hsu, in news that became the most searched item on China's Weibo microblogging service.
"My dearest and most kindhearted sister Barbie Hsu died of influenza-induced pneumonia and unfortunately left us," Dee, known as Little S, said in a statement.
"I was grateful to be her sister in this life and that we got to care for and spend time with each other. I will always be grateful to her and miss her!"
The sisters first found fame with their pop group S.O.S, but Hsu's leading role in the romantic Taiwanese soap Meteor Garden cemented her popularity.
She was married to Korean rapper Koo Jun-yup "DJ Koo" for nearly three years after ending an 11-year marriage with Chinese entrepreneur Wang Xiaofei. She is survived by two children.
It was Meteor Garden, a TV adaptation of a 1990s Japanese comic book of the same name, that helped Hsu become a star outside the Mandarin-speaking world.
She played Shancai, a poor student who goes to an elite private school and finds herself caught in a love web with the heirs of wealthy families.
Her four male co-stars in the show later joined forces to become Taiwanese boyband F4, which became one of the most popular Mandopop groups of the 2000s.
