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Wan Xiaoli

b. 1971

Chinese singer

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About Wan Xiaoli

Born 1971. Wan Xiaoli is a Chinese singer, musician and songwriter.

Wan Xiaoli (万晓利; born 1971) is a folk-rock singer, song-writer, guitarist, and harmonica player from China. He is originally from Ci County, Handan, Hebei.

Wan Xiaoli was born on October 15, 1971, in Handan, Hebei Province. Raised in a rural environment, he developed an early affinity for music, teaching himself harmonica as a child after finding one at home. After graduating from a local technical college in 1991, Wan worked at a winery in his hometown while picking up guitar playing. During this time, he married and had a daughter, Wan Chang, who later contributed vocals to his recordings. In 1997 when he was 26, he moved to Beijing with his guitar and began to make a life as a bar musician. In 2014 he moved south and settled at the suburb of Hangzhou.

He has released five studio albums.

Wan was grouped with Zhou Yunpeng as a "realistic" songwriter conscious of societal changes and circumstances around the crowd. His 2002 song "Laid Off" (下岗了) gave a raw depiction of factory worker unemployment, reflecting 1990s state-owned enterprise reforms.

Discography Walk Over Here, Walk Over There (2002) It’s Not As Bad As Imagined (2006) The North of the North (2010) The Sun Looks Round (2015) Ship of the Scales / Teeth, Spinach, and Tofu versus Poet, Tramp, and Disciple (2017)

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Important facts

Born
1971
Birth century

People in Wan Xiaoli's life

Named in this biography and alive at the same time

Contemporaries

People whose lives overlapped Wan Xiaoli's

Frequently asked questions

Who is Wan Xiaoli?

Chinese singer

When was Wan Xiaoli born?

Wan Xiaoli was born in 1971.

What is Wan Xiaoli's occupation?

Wan Xiaoli is a singer, musician and songwriter.

What nationality is Wan Xiaoli?

Wan Xiaoli is Chinese.

Sources & further reading

· Wikipedia: Wan Xiaoli

· Wikidata: Q6166318

· DBpedia: Wan Xiaoli

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Wan Xiaoli. https://biography.guide/wan-xiaoli/

MLA: "Wan Xiaoli." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/wan-xiaoli/.

Chicago: "Wan Xiaoli." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/wan-xiaoli/.

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