Taiwanese actor Barbie Hsu, who rose to fame across East Asia as the romantic lead in the 2001 television drama "Meteor Garden," has died of influenza at 48, her sister said Monday. Known to fans by the nickname "Big S,

Barbie Hsu, a Taiwanese actress who starred in the popular TV drama Meteor Garden that once swept Asia, died after contracting pneumonia triggered by the flu. She was 48.

Barbie Hsu, better known as "Da S" which means "Big S," caught the flu when she visited Japan with her family during the Lunar New Year, according to her sister.