Li Yugang (; born July 23, 1978) is a Chinese singer, artist, and soloist with the China National Opera & Dance Drama Theater. A National First-Class Actor, he specialises in nándàn (ç·æ¦) roles, male performances of female parts, in Peking opera.
Born into a farming family in Jilin province, Li was unable to attend college and worked various jobs before becoming a club singer in Xi'an. It was there that his ability to sing in both male and female registers was discovered when he filled in for an absent colleague. Li rose to prominence in 2006 after placing third on the talent show Star Boulevard and has since released music, performed internationally, and expanded into writing, cultural promotion, and filmmaking.
Born in 1978 to a farming family in Jilin, Li was accepted into the provincial Art College but could not attend due to financial constraints. Following high school, he held various jobs in Changchun before moving to Xi'an to work as a waiter in an entertainment club.
Soon, he was allowed to sing a few songs and became a club singer. His breakthrough came when a female colleague didn't show up and he had to take her place, singing in a female voice. "That's how I started with female roles," recalled Li Yugang. The ability to perform in both male and female vocal ranges led to a full-time position. From 1998 to 2006, Li trained professionally to develop skills in nándàn, the traditional Peking opera practice of men portraying female characters.
In 2006, Li rose to prominence after placing third on Star Boulevard (), a national talent competition on CCTV. His performances of "Farewell My Concubine" () and "The Drunken Beauty" (), both from the Peking Opera repertoire, gained him significant public attention.
The following year, Li gave his first solo performance in Beijing, titled "Where Flowers are Unbounded" (). In April 2008, he performed at the "2008 United Nations Spring Cultural Festival" at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. In 2009, he joined the China National Opera & Dance Drama Theater and was awarded the title of National First-Class Actor. That same year, Li performed at the Sydney Opera House, becoming the second Chinese artist to do so, and was awarded the Southern Cross Gold Prize for Culture by the Australian Government.
In 2010 and 2011, Li developed the stage productions "Flower in Mirror, Moon in Water" ( and "The Painting of Four Beauties" (, respectively, performing over 100 shows domestically and internationally. In 2015, he directed and starred in "Lady Zhaojun" (, an Oriental Poetic Stage production that took three years to prepare. It premiered in Beijing from 16âÂÂ19 April 2015.
A new musical adaptation of "Lady Zhaojun" premiered at the Beijing Tianqiao Performing Arts Center on 26 April 2019, followed by a global tour in June. By 8 December 2019, the production had completed 46 performances. Following a hiatus, the tour was scheduled to resume in 2023.
In 2010, Li Yugang released his debut album "The New Drunken Beauty" (, and then released "Dream-chasing Chant" () and "Lotus" (. In 2014, the Rhymoi Music company released Li Yugang's "Once Upon a Time in Shanghai" ( CD album.
On 10 November 2016, the single "Happened to meet you" () was released for the 10th anniversary of his debut and the self-titled album was released in 2017. "Happened to meet you" stayed on the music charts for 10 weeks, and the music video for the song reached over 100 million views on YouTube. After that, he started the tour of "Li Yugang's 10-year Classic Concert" () on 17 Dec. 2016.
By now(2023), Li Yugang has released nearly a hundred singles, mainly in Chinese style. He has also blended variety styles like R&B,ÃÂ rap and electronic elements into his music.
In addition to being a stage actor and singer, Li Yugang has also branched out into writing, planning and holding cultural gatherings, promotion of ceramic culture, and film director.
In November 2016, his first literary work "The beauty I met" () which recorded his pilgrimage to China's intangible cultural heritage with words and pictures was published. At the end of 2016, Li 's art space "Jade Space" () was completed in Beijing, extending his love and obsession with traditional culture from stage art to life aesthetics. In May 2021, after the "Jade Space" in Beijing and Suzhou, Li Yugang's porcelain culture-themed art space - "Jade Workshop" () was unveiled in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi Province.
In 2019, the short film "A Date After Twilight", Li directed and starred, was set as the opening film of the 86358 Short Film Exchange Week hosted by Jia Zhangke Art Center. On 30 March 2023, Li has begun filming his feature directorial debut "Nostalgia in the Cloud" ().
(English titles with "*" are from the official.)