The number of male fans is increasing, but they are still outnumbered by their female peers in the fan community. Photo: Li Hao/GT

The crowd of screaming adolescents hit a frenzied peak when Wu Yifan (Kris Wu), China's heartthrob, appeared as part of a road show for the movie Mr Six (2015) back in December 2015. While the rising pop star was greeted with shrieks and cries by infatuated young girls, suddenly a boy shouted out, "I love you, Wu!"

"The crowd burst into laughter on hearing the boy's yell, surprised he was even crazier than girls," said one of Wu's die-hard male fans, who goes by the nickname "LooKaqi."

Males are generally considered less interested in chasing idols than their female counterparts. Indeed men account for less than 30 percent of the total amount of fans, according to a 2015 report by Baidu Tieba, an online community famous for its various sub-forums devoted to celebrities.

However, this stereotype may start changing as China's "little fresh meat" stars - good-looking young actors and singers born after 1985 - begin winning the heart of more male fans with their versatile talents.

High school student LooKaqi enjoys the sense of being a minority among fans. "Males are treated as pandas and are taken care of by the girls in the fan community," he said. On his WeChat page, he and other girl fans sometimes fight to proclaim "ownership" of Wu.

In Wu's fanclub, girls call themselves "Meigeni", literally, every one of you, while boy fans are called "Meigeman".

In the article Teen idol - when does a celebrity crush become an obsession? published in February 2015 on the Australian parenting website The Kids Are All Right, Carl Pickhardt, a counseling psychologist, says that celebrity worship is not just the domain of teen girls.

Girls reach puberty before boys, the period in which teens start exploring their "sexual identity and romantic interests." Crushes on celebrities, who are held up as ideal partners, is just one form of exploration. When boys enter puberty, they too will begin exploration of their own, the article says.

Xiao M, a college student, is also a male fan of Wu. For him, Wu is a versatile pop star with a charming personality and voice, and even basketball talent.

On February 13, Wu, who stands 1.87 meters-tall and underwent professional basketball training in his youth, will join team Canada and retired basketball superstar Tracy McGrady, to battle against team USA at the 2016 NBA All-Star Celebrity Game.

On Zhihu, China's equivalent to Quora, under the question "Wu will attend the 2016 NBA All-Star Celebrity Game, why?" Guan Weijia, basketball correspondent with Titan Sports, gave his answer while mentioning he was "kind of becoming a fan of Wu."

Guan said that Yang Yi [a well-known Chinese basketball columnist], who was Wu's commentating partner in a recent NBA game, highlighted Wu's passion for basketball, and mentioned the game streaming directors spoke highly of Wu's polite manner.

"The All-Star Celebrity Game is expected to draw the focus and attention of millions of people in China," he said in the post.

LooKaqi noticed a growing number of males started talking about Wu. The other day when he updated a WeChat post about Wu's commentary on the NBA game, a male schoolmate passionate about basketball left a comment, complaining he was unable to access the live streaming of the game. "I was happy that he started to follow Wu," said LooKaqi.

"Now I am trying to learn more about basketball in order to be closer to my idol," he said.