Song Xiaobao (born 5 January 1981) is a Chinese comedian, actor, and TV personality. He studied

Errenzhuan ''Errenzhuan'' ( zh, t= 二人轉, s= 二人转, p=Èrrénzhuàn, lit. "two-people rotation") is a genre of musical theater and folk dance from Northeast China, usually involving two performers (one male and one female). The dance uses folding fa ...

under

Zhao Benshan Zhao Benshan ( zh, s=赵本山, t=趙本山, p=Zhào Běnshān; born 2 October 1957) is a Chinese skit and sitcom actor, comedian, television director, and businessman. Originally from Liaoning province, Zhao has appeared on the CCTV New Year's ...

and has worked closely with Zhao throughout his career. He won a

Huading Award The Huading Awards are a set of entertainment awards in China. The awards were set up by Global Talents Media Group, Inc in 2007 and are held more than once each year across multiple entertainment media from Chinese television shows to internatio ...

in 2014 for the television drama series ''Cherry.''

Early life

Song Baoli was born on 5 January 1981 in

Huinan Huinan County () is a county of southwestern Jilin province, China. It is under the administration of Tonghua City, with a population of 350,000 residing in an area of . Administrative divisions There are 10 towns and one ethnic township. Towns ...

Tonghua Tonghua ( zh, s=通化 , p=Tōnghuà) is a prefecture-level city in the south of Jilin province, People's Republic of China. It borders North Korea's Chagang Province to the south and southeast, Baishan to the east, Jilin City to the north, ...

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. He grew up in a rural community and dropped out of high school due to poverty. At age 16, he spent a year travelling around

Heilongjiang Heilongjiang is a province in northeast China. It is the northernmost and easternmost province of the country and contains China's northernmost point (in Mohe City along the Amur) and easternmost point (at the confluence of the Amur and Us ...

, working as a

dishwasher A dishwasher is a machine that is used to clean dishware, cookware, and cutlery automatically. Unlike dishwashing, manual dishwashing, which relies on physical scrubbing to remove soiling, the mechanical dishwasher cleans by spraying hot wat ...

to earn a living. At age 19, he was talent-spotted by an

troupe. He studied acting under

and was Zhao's 32nd apprentice. He adopted the stage name Song Xiaobao and gained local popularity in 2009 through his part in Zhao's Heilongjiang Television show ''Benshan Happy Camp''.

Career

In 2011, he made his first national appearance on the Spring Festival TV Gala in

Liaoning ) , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = Clockwise: Mukden Palace in Shenyang, Xinghai Square in Dalian, Dalian coast, Yalu River at Dandong , image_map = Liaoning in China (+all claims hatched).svg , ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. For a few years afterwards, it was speculated that Zhao would star in the CCTV National Spring Festival Broadcast. From 2012 to 2013, he and Zhao Benshan collaborated on two films: '' Missing 2'' and '' The 22 Marriage Rules''. During this time, they also worked on a drama called ''Cherry'', in which Song Xiaobao was the lead actor. Song won the 2014

for the best actor in a city-themed Chinese drama for his part in ''Cherry''. In 2014, he starred in ''The Harvest Season'' by Beijing Satellite TV. In 2015, he gained more widespread popularity for his comedic works after becoming a runner up in a Chinese comedy contest TV show '' Happy Comedy'' as part of the group Liaoning Folk Art Troupe. In 2016, he was invited back to the show as a "crowd favorite" guest performer for the finals. That year, he also took part in the variety show ''

Keep Running "Keep Running" is a song written by Irish singer-songwriter Gemma Hayes for her fourth studio album '' Let It Break''. It was the second single release from the album. Background The song was originally titled 'Tokyo' and included some lyrics ...

'', teaching the Dongbei dialect on the show. In 2018, he made a surprise guest appearance at

Wang Leehom Wang Leehom ( zh, c=王力宏, poj=Ông Le̍k-hông; born May 17, 1976), sometimes credited as Leehom Wang, is an American singer-songwriter, actor, producer, and film director. His music is known for fusing hip-hop and R&B, with traditional ...

's concert tour during the

Shenzhen Shenzhen is a prefecture-level city in the province of Guangdong, China. A Special economic zones of China, special economic zone, it is located on the east bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of Guangdong ...

stop.

Personal life

Song Xiaobao married twice. He was married to his first wife Huo Xiaohong (), a fellow

actress, for seven years. It was speculated that they divorced because Huo was infertile. He subsequently married Wang Xue () and they gave birth to twins in 2011.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Song, Xiaobao 1981 births Living people Male actors from Jilin Chinese male comedians People from Tonghua