'This is very familiar': Chinese Game of Thrones fans say goodbye to beloved series

Show Quanli de Youxi so widely viewed that even president Xi Jinping is believed to have referred to it in meetings

Chinese fans have voiced their anger and disappointment - and a sense that the drama in Westeros is not unlike to their own nation's political machinations - after the final episode of HBO epic Game of Thrones came to an end at the weekend.

Game of Thrones, translated as Quanli de Youxi, "Game of power", has been a huge hit in China since it debuted eight years ago. For years, online volunteers have helped write Chinese subtitles for pirated copies of the show, often censored in sanctioned versions for violence and nudity.