Customers at iQiyi Cafe watch the season finale of South Korean TV drama series You Who Came From The Stars on February 27 while eating fried chicken, the favored food of the show's female star. Photo: Li Hao/GT

T-shirts, bobbleheads and DVDs are just some of the merchandise available to fans of hit TV shows. But what if you wanted to feel surrounded by stars from your favorite sitcom or drama? A handful of Beijing entrepreneurs have answered the call by opening cafes inspired in design and decor by popular TV shows.

Although it offers coffee and pastries, iQiyi Cafe in Sanlitun is better known for serving fried chicken and beer to fans of hit South Korean romance-comedy TV series You Who Came From The Stars.

The cafe's walls and ceiling are decorated with giant posters of stars Kim Soo-hyun and Jun Ji-hyun from the TV show, which first aired in China on December 18, 2013. One episode of the TV show, based on a love story between a handsome alien with superhuman powers and a beautiful actress, revealed the heroine's favorite treat is fried chicken and beer.

Star power at cafe

On February 27, iQiyi Cafe screened the season finale of You Who Came From The Stars to around 200 customers - more than 90 percent of whom were young women - packed on the 60-square-meter second floor of the cafe.

Although the episode didn't air until 9 pm, many fans arrived at 5 pm to claim front-row seats. Young women snapped photos with their cellphones between mouthfuls of fried chicken washed down with beer when the show's male protagonist Kim appeared on screen.

Despite its current reputation as a shrine for You Who Came From The Stars fans, iQiyi Cafe was just a regular coffee shop when it opened in April 2013. It wasn't until December that year that it adopted its first theme by altering its decor to mimic the living room featured in iPartment IV, a popular Chinese sitcom.

"Many fans of iPartment IV attended activities we held at the cafe. They were amazed by our decor," said Lu Bin, manager of iQiyi Cafe. "After changing our decor to replicate the living room on the show, our number of customers surged. This encouraged us to embrace a different theme based on another popular TV series."

The week-long makeover inspired by You Who Came From The Stars took place in February 2014. Aside from overhauling the decor, the cafe also updated its menu to include Cass, a South Korean beer promoted by Kim, and fried chicken. Lu said currently the cafe orders more than a dozen chickens daily to meet customer demand.

Much of iQiyi Cafe's popularity has been driven by popular feedback on microblogging service Sina Weibo from customers who are You Who Came From The Stars fans.

A 24-year-old female customer at the cafe, who only gave her name as Dora, said she and her friends were all "crazy fans" of the South Korean drama.

"The series has affected my life so much. The biggest attraction is seeing Kim [on screen]. If he cries, I also cry. I just can't contain my emotions," said Dora.

Fried chicken is served at iQiyi Cafe as a tribute to the heroine of South Korean drama You Who Came From The Stars. Photo: Li Hao/GT

I'll be there for you

While the appeal of You Who Came From The Stars has captured the post-1990s market at iQiyi Cafe, across town at Chaowai SOHO many nostalgic Chinese from the post-1980s generation swarm to Friends' Cafe, a replica of the Central Perk cafe that appeared in American TV sitcom Friends.

Opened in 2010, the only customers seemingly missing from the small cafe are stars of the TV show itself. There is an inviting orange couch inside and an identical Central Perk logo visible from the outside. The cafe's owner, Du Xin, has even adopted the nickname "Gunther" after the fictional cafe's manager. Du's cat, which roams the cafe, is appropriately named Smelly after the song "Smelly Cat" featured in Friends.

Du is currently renovating a studio next door to Friends' Cafe that resembles character Joey's apartment. Its main room, which features a foosball table, DVDs of Joey and fellow male character Chandler's favorite TV show Baywatch and a cabinet similar to one Joey made, opened last year. It is scheduled to reopen on March 28, after which customers will be able to drink coffee and watch Baywatch episodes.

The cafe sells six types of cupcakes, each named after a Friends character. "The 'Joey cupcake' contains almost all of his favorite ingredients, including butter and jam," explained Du, adding he and his wife worked for an entire summer on creating the cupcakes. "Monica says she loves cheese and wants to live in a house made of cheese in one episode, so the main ingredient of her cupcake is cheese."

Friends was immensely popular during its heyday in China, where many young people watched it to learn English and familiarize themselves with American culture. Du listed it as the "best of the best" of TV shows from its era, but lamented the Friends frenzy is lost on many young people today.

"We've seen a decline in our number of customers since we first opened," said Du. "Our location is out of the way. We can't compete with big cafe chains."

Customers watch an episode of Friends at Friends' Cafe in Beijing. Photo: Li Hao/GT

Maintaining popularity

Despite the boom of South Korean dramas such as You Who Came From The Stars, Du believes these shows are merely one-season wonders unable to rival the legacy of sitcoms like Friends.

"South Korean TV shows are popular yet fickle. Their reign of popularity is quickly replaced once a new show comes along," explained Du. "Take the remake of [2001 Taiwan drama] Meteor Garden, for example. Is there anyone who still admires it? On the other hand, Friends has been popular for more than 20 years."

Du said he aims to run his cafe "like an old-fashioned Beijing teahouse," where customers all know each other and can socialize over their drinks.

"Young people love Starbucks and Costa Coffee, which are kind of bourgeoisie. I have heard that [South Korean chain] Maan Coffee is opening more branches and trying to attract customers with bigger stores, but I don't think cafes should be like that. Small cafes should have the feelings of friends and family as their essence," said Du.

Ren Ruijie, a regular customer of Friends' Cafe, was swept off her feet when she first visited in 2012. "I love it here because I love Friends. I've seen every episode from all 10 seasons multiple times and never get bored watching reruns," said Ren. "I also watched You Who Came From The Stars. I saw the first seven episodes and then jumped to the 17th episode, but I didn't seem to miss anything."

Du Xin, owner of the Friends' Cafe.  Photo: Li Hao/GT

Keeping the dream alive

Although it might be easy to initially dismiss iQiyi Cafe as a knockoff business cashing in on a hit TV show, its parent company iQiyi.com, a Chinese online movie and TV portal, bought the rights to air You Who Came From The Stars and received authorization from the show's producers to use images of the cast to decorate the cafe. Its giant painting of Kim and Jun kissing is by Chen Boyan, an artist who specializes in fan-fiction works, and was bought by iQiyi for 200,000 yuan ($32,543).

Meanwhile, Du is planning on expanding his Friends' Cafe chain by opening a third store in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, later this year to go with his second cafe in Shanghai that opened in August 2012.

"Our stores are more like clubs for Friends fans where they can relax and have fun together," said Du. "The most exciting moment for me was when [Friends director] Roger Christiansen came to our cafe last year. He said it was 'amazing,' which made me believe that if I keep my dream alive, one day a Friends actor might come and visit us."