FLANKED by a DJ and a drummer, South Korean pop group EXO sauntered onto the stage at the Hunan Satellite TV station recently, joining the line-up for the Lantern Festival Show. The studio was flooded with fans holding light sticks in various colours, signifying allegiance to one or other group member.
On the same day, thousands of kilometres away at Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport, the arrival of heartthrob Lee Min-ho, who starred in the TV series The Heirs, attracted a hardcore of young women willing to pay 3,800 yuan (RM2,000) to access his half-hour media briefing.