In the wake of Barbie Hsu‘s sudden death, Jerry Yan posted a heartfelt tribute to his Meteor Garden co-star on the Chinese social media platform Weibo on the evening of February 3.

Jerry Yan and Barbie Hsu in Meteor Garden | Photo from @jerryyan143
Hsu passed away at 48 due to influenza-induced pneumonia during a trip to Japan for the Lunar New Year holiday, as confirmed by her sister, Dee Hsu.

In his post, Yan wrote as translated, “Thankful for meeting you. In your carefree childlike years, you used to say, treat every day as if it were your last. To have a good time. May this time you walk slowly. From now on, in another world, there will be no troubles and the years will be peaceful.”

Hsu and Yan became iconic for their pairing in the 2001 Taiwanese drama series Meteor Garden, the 27-episode series that was so successful it even had a 4-episode supplementary series titled Meteor Rain and a 31-episode sequel, Meteor Garden II. The phenomenal reach of their show sparked interest in Asian telenovelas.

In the series, Hsu portrayed Shan Cai, a poor yet strong-willed girl who attended a school for rich kids, where she met the “F4” (four handsome students from influential families: Jerry Yan as Dao Ming Si, Vic Chou as Huaze Lei, Ken Chu as Ximen, and Vanness Wu as Meizuo). They bullied Shan Cai because of her status in life, but they later became her friends; hate eventually turned to love, too, as Dao Ming Si and Shan Cai fell in love with each other.

Chu also took to social media to share a throwback Meteor Garden cast photo on Instagram Stories to pay tribute to his former co-star. As of publishing time, Chou and Wu have yet to release statements on the Taiwanese actress’ death.

Hsu is survived by her South Korean husband, Koo Jun Yup (DJ Koo), and her two kids (a 10-year-old daughter and an 8-year-old son) whom she shared with her ex-husband, Chinese businessman Wang Xiaofei. Hsu married Koo in 2022, a few months after she and Wang divorced.