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What do an eccentric British detective, a cut-throat Washington pol and a bunch of nerds at Caltech have in common?

They are characters in some of the most popular foreign TV shows in China.

Over the past five years, The Big Bang Theory alone has been streamed more than 1.3 billion times. To appreciate how much some young Chinese love the BBC series, Sherlock, step inside 221B Baker Street. That's Holmes' fictitious address in London as well as the name of a caf that opened last year in Shanghai's former French Concession.

Good luck, though, finding a table.

"Business has been very good since the premier of the third season," says Eric Zhang, the caf's twenty-seven-year-old owner. "People have to line up or make reservations in advance on Saturday and Sunday, otherwise they can't get a seat."

Like many young people here, Zhang grew up reading the detective classics by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, translated into Chinese. Zhang says his father is a detective and used to share murder, smuggling and arson cases with him.

"Actually, I aspired to be a policeman," says Zhang, "but I didn't pass the physical and opened a caf instead."

The caf – all wood and leather — is drenched in Sherlock paraphernalia. On the wall next to the bar are hand-written, Sherlock plot-lines. By the window sits a tableful of what is supposed to be Dr. Watson's medical equipment, including a microscope and old glass syringes retrieved from the basement of a Chinese hospital. On the bookshelves sit seemingly endless photos of Benedict Cumberbatch, who plays Holmes in the series. Zhang explains the shrine-like treatment of the British actor.

Code Switch

To Play The Part, Actors Must Talk The Talk — In Chinese

The Conservative Political Action Conference ended in Washington Saturday, after giving Sen. Rand Paul a second consecutive victory in the presidential straw poll that's seen as an indicator of how Republicans see their leaders.

From Politico:

"The Kentucky senator received 31 percent, far ahead of second place Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who received 11 percent. Neurosurgeon Ben Carson finished third with 9 percent, ahead of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who received 8 percent.

"The announcement came at the end of the group's annual three-day confab. Organizers said that 2,459 attendees voted on computer kiosks.

"Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum tied for fifth place, with 7 percent."

Each week, Weekend Edition Sunday host Rachel Martin brings listeners an unexpected side of the news by talking with someone personally affected by the stories making headlines.

After years of selling drugs and serving prison time in Detroit, 54-year-old Isaac Lott is now a site supervisor with the organization Reclaim Detroit. The group deconstructs abandoned homes to reclaim materials from them.

“ These last four years have been wonderful, wonderful for me. I've never been so comfortable in my own skin. Because they gave me an opportunity to really enhance my life. So I try to give back.

Another day of frantic searching has failed to uncover the fate of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, as ships and aircraft combed over parts of the Gulf of Thailand and South China Sea where the jetliner is suspected of crashing with 239 people aboard. And officials now say the plane may have diverted its path, perhaps in an attempt to turn back.

The flight's disappearance is a mystery that was deepened by revelations Saturday that two of the plane's passengers appeared to have used stolen passports to travel. And on Sunday, Malaysian transportation and military officials said that if radar data that indicate a change of course is accurate, the search area would need to be adjusted.

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