The New Yorker has a little dispatch about 林疯狂, or linfengkuang, as it's unfolding on the Chinese mainland. Apparently, the hoop-heads there have been tracking Lin for some time. In the last fortnight, however, they've caught Linsanity. And Linsanity in China isn't quite the same as it is here:
Any athlete of Chinese descent who reaches the pros in America draws some attention in China, but nothing compared to the sensation that Lin has sparked on the mainland in the last two weeks. Never mind his two hundred thousand followers on Twitter; on the Chinese version, he already has three-quarters of a million. Last week, Lin rocketed to the number-one most searched item on Baidu, the Chinese search engine.
To note: Our resident Chinese expert, Tom Scocca, gives the translation of 林疯狂 as "Lin-insane," which carries a somewhat different connotation.