Liu Yifei's childhood

Photos and videos of Chinese actress Liu Yifei performing as a child have attracted tens of millions of views.

On 25/6, a video of Yifei performing at the age of eight in Wuhan became a trending topic on Weibo. Video: Weibo/Xixi

As a child, Liu Yifei participated in many singing and dancing competitions, winning first place in a modeling contest.

Yifei with her mother - dancer Liu Xiaoli. According to Sina, she showed artistic talent from a young age and was encouraged by her parents. Yifei studied ballet, playing musical instruments, and traditional dance.

In a Pear Video interview last February, the actress said she experienced a period of confusion and fear when she first entered the entertainment industry. "The serene, calm exterior was just a facade I tried to create. By pretending like that for so long, I naturally became that way. At that time, I was always thinking of ways to make myself truly strong," Yifei said.

Viewers remarked that Liu Yifei inherited her beauty and grace from her mother.

The actress was born in 1987 in Wuhan. Her father, An Shaokang, was a French teacher and later worked at the Chinese Consulate in France. When Yifei was 10, her parents divorced, and she moved to the US with her mother to study and live, eventually becoming a US citizen. Five years later, she returned to China, was given the name Liu Yifei by her adoptive father, and entered the entertainment industry at 14 with her debut film, The Story of a Noble Family.

During that time, Liu Yifei yearned for recognition. Looking back, the actress feels sympathy for her younger self, because she didn't think of herself as a child and was always comparing herself to older actresses in their twenties and thirties. She added, "Strangely, on set back then, no one treated me like a child."

Liu Yifei exhausted herself, working day and night to film a series of martial arts films with scenes of flying through the air and being submerged in mud, and she was once nearly swept away by a waterfall. When not filming, she practiced playing instruments, dancing, and learning languages. Now, Liu Yifei prefers to focus on projects that explore emotional depth rather than physical challenges.

The actress made her mark through television series such as Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils (2003), Chinese Paladin (2005), and The Return of the Condor Heroes (2006).

In recent years, she has gained acclaim through films like A Dream of Splendor, Go To A Windy Place, and The Rose Story.

According to Sina, after 25 years in the entertainment industry, Liu Yifei maintains her position as a top star. Her advertising fees are among the highest in the Chinese entertainment world, with each contract earning her around 25 million CNY (3.4 million USD). Yifei is a global ambassador for brands like LV, Bvlgari, Tissot, Shiseido, and about 10 Chinese brands such as Huawei and Meituan.