Liu Xiaoqing

Liu, Xiaoqing is a famous actress in mainland China. He fame in China is comparable to some of the leading actresses in U.S.

Born on October 31, 1951, in Fuling, Sichuan Province, she appeared in some of the classic movies in mainland China before she was 20 — Qiao Zhe Yi Jia Zi (Look at This Family) in 1979 and Xiao Hua (The Little Flower) in 1980. Her roles, though small, were memorable. Her breakthrough role was her portrayal of CiXi, a ruthless (and the last) empress of Qing Dynasty, in a series of two films — Huo Shao Yuan Ming Yuan (The Burning of the Imperial Palace) in 1983 and Shui Lian Ting Zheng in 1984. Her portrayal of CiXi was won her numerous awards in Chinese Film Festival and she reprised the role later in two more unrelated films.

Her offscreen life is as colorful as the one onscreen. She was dubbed as the "richest woman in China" since she successfully ventured into real estate business when China is modernizing itself and becoming more capitalistic. She literally became a billionare overnight, though rumor has it that she slept with a business tycoon in Hong Kong to get the funding. She was also linked to have offscreen romance with some of her co-stars. However, she was jailed because of tax evasion.

Her last filem was Chun Hua Kai in (2004) in which she played the title role, Chunhua.