Ziyi Zhang (mainland Chinese actress) grew up in a working class family in Beijing. She passed the entrance examination of the secondary school affiliated with Beijing Dancing College at the age of eleven. She is a third-year student of the Performing Art at China Central Drama College. She also won an award in the National Young Dancer competition. Her first film was 1999's "The Road Home,"directed by the renowned director Zhang Yi-mou. The film, which will be released by Sony Picture Classics in 2001, went on the garner the Jury Grand Prix Silver Bear at the 2000 edition of the Berlin Film Festival. On June 26th, 2000, she demanded 10 million RMB for any role in comercial ads, setting an astonishing record for the industry. She's quickly risen to her stardom with her youthful beauty, acting skill, and the rumored romantic scandal with the director Zhang Yi-mou which she refuted.
Spokesmodel for: Maybelline (cosmetics), Pantene (shampoo), Coca-Cola Asia. Former Spokesmodel for Tag Heuer (watches), 2% (Korean mineral water), Lenovo Computers.
Was listed in "Time Magazines" World's 100 Most Influential People. They called her "China's Gift to Hollywood".
"In China, we don't consider someone truly beautiful until we have known them for a long time, and we know what's underneath the skin."
Birth name: Ziyi Zhang
Gender: Female
Profession: Actress
Height: 5' 5"