- published: 09 Oct 2015
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Huang Xiaoming (born 13 November 1977) is a Chinese actor, singer, and model. He is often referred to as China's "number one heartthrob" or "number one young male" (中国第一小生). His best known roles in television are Yang Guo in The Return of the Condor Heroes (2006) and Xu Wenqiang in Shanghai Bund (2007). Huang graduated from the Performance Institute of the Beijing Film Academy in 2000, alongside other well-known actors such as Zhao Wei and Chen Kun. He first rose to prominence in 2001 for playing Emperor Wu of Han in the television series Da Han Tian Zi. The series reached number one in the ratings when it aired in Taiwan, and his later dramas all achieved high ratings in mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau. In 2007, Huang signed a contract with Huayi Brothers and began focusing on his film career, appearing in movies like The Sniper, The Message, and Ip Man 2. In 2010 he became one of the first mainland Chinese actors to star in a Taiwanese television drama, acting as Luo Xi in Summer's Desire, alongside Peter Ho and Barbie Hsu.
Zhao Wei (born 12 March 1976) is a Chinese actress and pop singer. Audiences sometimes refer to her by her English name, Vicki Zhao (sometimes spelled Vicky Zhao). She has been awarded the Hundred Flowers Award, Shanghai Film Critics Award, Huabiao Award, Golden Eagle TV Award as well as Shanghai Film Festival Golden Globe, amongst others.
After being chosen to work as an extra on a filming set, Zhao developed a love for acting. While studying at Beijing Film Academy, Zhao participated in various film projects. Zhao's breakout role as a leading actress was in Princess Pearl, a Chinese television series. In 1999, after Princess Pearl was broadcast, Zhao also began a singing career with her first album, Swallow. She is considered one of the "Four Young Dan actresses" in China (四小花旦), along with Xu Jinglei, Zhang Ziyi and Zhou Xun.
Zhao rose to international stardom in films such as Stephen Chow's Shaolin Soccer (2001), So Close (2002) and the epic Warriors of Heaven and Earth (2004). In John Woo's historical epic Red Cliff (2009), she played warrior princess Sun Shangxiang. She gained positive reviews from the Associated Press: "But the biggest surprise in the cast is Chinese actress Zhao Wei, who steals the show with her portrayal of Sun's spunky tomboy sister Sun Shangxiang." For her achievements in film, television, and music, Japanese media dubbed her China's No.1 actress, and UK's The Independent described her as "China's box office darling."
Liu Yifei (born August 25, 1987), also known as Crystal Liu, is a Chinese actress, model, dancer and singer. Her legal name is Liu Ximeizi. The "茜" (Xi) is from the German film Sissi (Chinese translation 茜茜公主—hence the pronunciation of xi not qian; her mother calls her Xixi).
Liu was born in Tongji Hospital in Hubei, she was originally named An Feng. She is the only child of An Shaokang (安少康), a 1st Secretary in the Chinese Embassy in France and French language university professor, and Liu Xiaoli (刘晓莉), a dancer and a stage performer. Her parents divorced when she was 7 years old and she was raised solely by her mother. That same year, she changed her name to Liu Ximeizi and began modelling, along with training in singing, dancing and playing the piano. She is very close to Chen Jinfei (陈金飞), her godfather.
When she was 11 years old, Liu and her mother moved to New York City, where she attended Louis Pasteur Middle School 67. Returning to China in 2002 to pursue an acting career, she began to be known as Liu Yifei (刘亦菲). Several weeks later, Liu was accepted into the Performance Institute of Beijing Film Academy at the age of 15, where she graduated from in 2006.