A brilliant, if nerd-profiteering entrepreneur has opened up a Sherlock-themed cafe in Shanghai, China. 221B Baker Street appeals to the kind of coffee drinker who likes being surrounded by more Benedicts than you can shake a Cumberbatch at, and also Martin Freeman. This comes from the Shanghai Daily, in a story with the alluring headline of, “Sherlock China’s new sex god.” (Don’t worry, Bart’s still the world’s #1 sex machine.)
On an ordinary Wednesday afternoon at around 3pm, the city’s new Sherlock Holmes cafe was packed with fans, including the outdoor garden where two young women were bundled up against the 5-degree-Celsius cold and sipping afternoon tea with milk in delicate cups.
The cafe named Sherlock on Ruijin Road S. isn’t overwhelmingly Victorian or decorated like an English gentlemen’s club, or Holmes’ Baker Street residence. But there is wood and leather, lots of books and Sherlock Holmes novels, test tubes for Sherlock’s arcane experiments, as well as posters for the TV series and London tourism. Sherlock postcards sell for [66 US cents]… The TV series is screened from time to time.
“There is nothing extraordinary here, but since it’s called Sherlock, I feel I should at least give it a try,” says Zhao Mengdi, a 24-year-old civil servant sitting in the cramped cafe, which was opened six months ago. (Via)
221B Baker Street is only open for three weekends a year, every three years.
