Liu Yan (; born 8 November 1980), also known as Ada Liu, is a Chinese actress, hostess and singer.
She won the "Best New Artist" at the 2nd
Top Chinese Music Awards
The Top Chinese Music Awards () is an annual music awards to recognize Chinese popular music artists and works. The Top Chinese Music Awards was established in 2001 and is held in China. The awards have been described by the media as China's equi ...
and the "Best Promising Host" at the 3rd Zongyi Award, in 2010 the Most Influencing Host of China named she on their list of the 10 Greatest hosts in Television.
Liu is noted for her roles as Dai Yiyi and Jiajia in ''
Badges of Fury'' (2013) and ''The Incredible Truth'' (2013) respectively.
Life
Early life
Liu was born in
Hengyang
Hengyang (; ) is the second largest city of Hunan Province, China. It straddles the Xiang River about south of the provincial capital of Changsha. As of the 2020 Chinese census, Its total population was 6,645,243 inhabitants, whom 1,290,715 l ...
,
Hunan
Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi ...
, on November 8, 1980, with her
ancestral home
An ancestral home is the place of origin of one's extended family, particularly the home owned and preserved by the same family for several generations. The term can refer to an individual house or estate, or to a broader geographic area such as a ...
in
Wuhu
Wuhu () is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Anhui province, China. Sitting on the southeast bank of the Yangtze River, Wuhu borders Xuancheng to the southeast, Chizhou and Tongling to the southwest, Hefei city to the northwest, Ma'ansh ...
,
Anhui
Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze River ...
. She was raised in
Guangzhou
Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong ...
,
Guangdong
Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020 ...
and is the younger of two children, with an elder brother.
Liu became the student in charge of entertainment in her class when she was a pupil. Liu enrolled at
Hunan Normal University
Hunan Normal University (), founded in 1938, is a public university in Changsha, Hunan Province. The university is the 211 Project university, one of the country's 100 national key universities in the 21st century that enjoy priority in obtain ...
, earning a bachelor's degree in
Chinese literature.
Hosting career
Liu joined
Guangdong Television to host television in 1999, at the same year, she entered
Communication University of China
The Communication University of China (CUC) () is a leading public university in Beijing. It is one of the China's key universities of 'Double First Class University Plan', directly administered by the Ministry of Education of the People's Repub ...
.
In March 2000, Liu hosted ''Financial Report'' and ''Green News'' in
Southern Television Guangdong. From 2001 to 2002, she hosted ''Walking in Guangzhou''.
In November 2002, Liu joined Hunan Public Channel and hosted ''Public News''.
In 2004, Liu returned to Guangzhou, she hosted ''Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao'' in Guangdong Television.
In December 2005, Liu joined
Enlight Media
Beijing Enlight Media Co., Ltd. known as Enlight Media is a Chinese publicly traded company. It is a TV program production enterprise, as well as film production via Beijing Enlight Pictures. The company was incorporated on 24 April 2000.
Beijin ...
.
Acting career

Liu made her acting debut in 2008 when she was chosen to act as a supporting actor in fantasy film ''
Painted Skin''.
In 2009, Liu acted in the historical television series ''
The Legend of Yang Guifei'' directed by You Xiaogang, playing the role of
Empress Zhang.
Liu had a minor role as Yun Mei in fantasy film ''
Mural
A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage.
Word mural in art
The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...
'' (2011), and also starred in
Wong Jing
Wong Jing ( born 3 May 1955) is a Hong Kong film director, producer, actor, presenter, and screenwriter. A prolific filmmaker with strong instincts for crowd-pleasing and publicity, Wong Jing played a prominent role in Hong Kong cinema dur ...
's romance film ''Marry Mr. Prefect''.
In 2012, Liu was cast in the historical television series ''Against the Blade of Honour'', which adapted from Taiwanese novelist
Gu Long
Xiong Yaohua (7 June 1938 – 21 September 1985), better known by his pen name Gu Long, was a Hong Kong-born Taiwanese novelist, screenwriter, film producer and director. A graduate of Cheng Kung Senior High School and Tamkang University, Xi ...
's
wuxia
( ), which literally means "martial heroes", is a genre of Chinese fiction concerning the adventures of martial artists in ancient China. Although is traditionally a form of historical fiction, its popularity has caused it to be adapted f ...
novel of the same title. However the series has not been broadcast to date.
After playing minor roles in various films and television series, Liu then acted bigger roles in ''
Badges of Fury'', ''The Incredible Truth'', ''
Jian Bing Man
''Jian Bing Man'' () is a 2015 Chinese superhero parody film. It was directed, written and also starring Da Peng, Mabel Yuan and Liu Yan. The film was released on 17 July 2015.
Plot
Da Peng plays a version of himself in the film. Da Peng h ...
'' and ''
I Belonged to You'', which enjoyed commercial box office success in China and she quickly rose to prominence.
In 2016, Liu reunited with fellow ''
I Belonged to You'' co-star
Yang Yang in
xianxia drama ''
Martial Universe
''Martial Universe'' ( Chinese: 武动乾坤) is a 2018 Chinese television series based on the novel ''Wu Dong Qian Kun'' by Tiancai Dudou. It stars Yang Yang, Zhang Tianai, Wang Likun and Wu Chun. The series is divided into two seasons.
The f ...
''. She was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress award with her performance in military drama ''Young Marshal''.
Filmography
Film
Television series
Discography
Albums
Singles
Awards
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Liu, Yan
1980 births
People from Hengyang
People from Wuhu
Communication University of China alumni
Hunan Normal University alumni
Chinese Mandopop singers
Actresses from Hunan
Living people
Chinese film actresses
Chinese television actresses
21st-century Chinese actresses
21st-century Chinese women singers