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Top 10 Facts About Liu Yifei

Liu Yifei is a Chinese-American actress, singer, and model. She has appeared multiple times on Forbes’ China Celebrity 100 list and was named one of the New Four Dan actresses of China in 2009. She is widely known as Fairy Sister in China.

In 1997, when Liu was 10 years old, she and her mother immigrated to the United States. She lived in Queens, New York City where she attended Louis Pasteur Middle School 67.  In 2002, she returned to China to pursue an acting career and took the stage name Liu Yifei. 

In this article, we highlight the top 10 facts about Liu Yifei.

1. Liu’s father was the secretary at the Chinese Embassy in France

Liu is an only child. Her father is An Shaokang, a first secretary at the Chinese Embassy in France and a French language university professor from Beijing, and her mother is Liu Xiaoli, a dancer and stage performer from Hubei. 

Her parents divorced when she was 10 years old, and she was raised solely by her mother.

2.  Liu Yifei attended the Beijing Film Academy

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In 1997, when Liu was 10 years old, she and her mother immigrated to the United States. In 2002, she returned to China to pursue an acting career and took the stage name Liu Yifei.

Several weeks after returning to China, Liu was accepted into the Performance Institute of Beijing Film Academy at age 15 and graduated in 2006.

3. Liu’s first television appearance was in the film The Story of a Noble Family

Immediately after her admittance into the Beijing Film Academy, Liu received offers to star in various television series. 

Her first television appearance in 2003 was in the period romance drama The Story of a Noble Family, based on Zhang Henshui’s novel of the same name. The series achieved the highest ratings on CCTV and positive reviews from the audience. Read more on Top 5 Chinese Actresses. 

4. Liu was nicknamed Fairy Sister from her role in the film Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils

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In 2003, Yifei was chosen by Zhang Jizhong to play Wang Yuyan in Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, an adaptation of Louis Cha’s wuxia novel of the same title.

The series was broadcast in Taiwan, becoming the highest-rated Chinese drama in Taiwan. Liu’s role as the beautiful Wang Yuyan earned her the nickname of Fairy Sister by the media and fans.

5. Liu starred in Chinese Paladin which was her claim to fame

In 2005, Liu starred in Chinese Paladin, a fantasy action drama adapted from the role-playing game The Legend of Sword and Fairy. The drama earned a cult following and solidified her popularity in China.

After the drama aired, Liu gained acclaim for her performance and swiftly experienced a surge in popularity. The same year, she was chosen as the Golden Eagle Goddess at the 6th China Golden Eagle TV Art Festival.

6. Liu won the Best Actress award at the fifth Macau International Movie Festival 

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This was for her role as Lingju and Diaochan in the historical film The Assassins (2012).  The Macau International Movie Festival is an international film festival that takes place in Macau, China.

Golden Lotus Award for Best Actress is the main category of Competition of Golden Lotus Awards, awarded to leading actresses who have outstanding performances in motion pictures.

7. Liu was the first Chinese ambassador of Dior Prestige

Liu starred in The Third Way of Love. Her performance in the film led to her win of the Most Anticipated Actress award at the 16th Chinese Film Media Awards. The same year, she was named the first Chinese ambassador of Dior Prestige.

Dior is a French multinational luxury fashion house[2] controlled and chaired by French businessman Bernard Arnault, who also heads LVMH.

8. Liu stirred controversy when she described herself as Asian instead of Chinese

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During an interview with Variety magazine at the premiere of Mulan on March 10, 2020, Liu described herself as Asian instead of Chinese, which caused anger among some Chinese social media netizens, who threatened to boycott the movie and accused her of forgetting her roots. They also questioned why a non-Chinese national was playing the legendary Chinese icon. Read more on 15 Most Famous Chinese Women. 

9. Liu started her music career in 2005

Liu signed with Sony Music Entertainment Japan in 2005. She released her first Japanese single Mayonaka no Door with Sony Music on July 19, 2006. Her debut album Liu Yifei was released the next month in various parts of Asia such as mainland China, Hong Kong and throughout Southeast Asia, featuring a diverse music repertoire including rap and soft rock.

In the same year, Liu also released her Japanese album in which the single, Mayonaka no Door was chosen to be an ending theme for the anime series Demashita! Powerpuff Girls Z by TV Tokyo. In 2020, she performed the Mandarin and English version of the song Reflection for the live-action Mulan.

10. Liu cut ties with the clothing brand Adidas in 2021

In March 2021, Liu cut ties with clothing brand Adidas over its support for the Better Cotton Initiative a group funded by the United States government via USAID after the trade body pulled out of Xinjiang, China citing concerns of forced labor involving Uighur Muslims.

The move was echoed by various celebrities in China as part of a broader campaign by the Chinese Government to pressure Western brands and consumers into continuing their purchase of cotton produced in the region.