Yu Xiaoguang

Yu Xiaoguang (; born 16 May 1981), also known as Ethan Yu, is a Chinese composer and actor. Yu is a former swimmer and sprint canoer. In 2006 he made a crossover from sports to films. Yu made appearances on many television series, most notably My Kung Fu Girlfriend, Fighting in Peking (2009), Mao Anying (2010), The Happy Time of the Spicy and Hot Girlfriend (2012), City and Country Life (2014), and Namchow Mechanic Heroes (2015).

Early life and education Yu was born in Dandong, Liaoning, on May 16, 1981. At the age of 7, he entered a sports school to learn to swim and later became a member of the Liaoning swimming team. In the National Youth Swimming Championships, he won the championship two years (1995 and 1996) in succession. In 1997, he started to learn to canoeing and won the championship in the National Canoeing Championships. After his early retirement, he was accepted to Central Academy of Drama, where he majored in acting. In 2002, he pursued advanced studies in Singapore, he studied music under Lee Wei Song.

Career Yu had his first experience in front of the camera in 2006, and he was chosen to act as a lead role in My Kung Fu Girlfriend, a comedy television series starring Wang Yang and Ma Su.

In 2007, Yu made his film debut in Crazy in Love, playing Brother Xi. That same year, he co-starred with Yao Chen and Zhang Jiayi in the historical television series Past Events.

In 2008, he appeared in the Game of Life and Death, I'm the Sun and Sailfish Qi yu.

In 2009, Yu portrayed , a writer and critic, in the war television series Fighting in Peking.

Yu portrayed Mao Anying, son of Mao Zedong, in the 2010 biographical drama Mao Anying. That same year, he had key supporting role in Mother, which starred Siqin Gaowa and Song Chunli.

In 2011, two films and one television series he headlined, Wu Yunduo, Beginning of the Great Revival and A Cheng. He played Wu Yunduo, a Chinese ordnance expert during the Second Sino-Japanese War, in the biographical drama Wu Yunduo. He portrayed Liu Shaoqi in China Film Group and DMG Entertainment's production of Huang Jianxin and Han Sanping's Beginning of the Great Revival, alongside Liu Ye, Chen Kun, Li Qin, Huang Jue, and Liao Fan.

Yu starred in the romantic comedy television series The Happy Time of the Spicy and Hot Girlfriend, playing the boyfriend of Choo Ja-hyun's character.

In 2014, Yu portrayed Deng Zhifang, son of Deng Xiaoping, in Deng Xiaoping at History's Crossroads, created by CCTV and directed by Wu Ziniu. The drama received positive reviews and high ratings. That same year, he starred as Man Cang, reuniting him with co-star Che Xiao, who played his girlfriend Jing Mei, in the romantic television series City and Country Life. The series was one of the most watched ones in mainland China in that month.

Yu starred opposite Yu Rongguang, Choo Ja-hyun and Zhu Xiaoyu in 2015 television series Namchow Mechanic Heroes.

In 2017, Yu guest-starred on Billy Chung's Eternal Wave, an action film starring Aaron Kwok, Zanilia Zhao, Zoe Zhang, Zhang Han, and Simon Yam. That same year, he was cast in Hero, playing the son of Siqin Gaowa's and Gao Ming's characters.

Personal life Yu married Korean actress Choo Ja-hyun on January 18, 2017. They first met while appearing in a Chinese drama The Happy Time of the Spicy and Hot Girlfriend in 2012.

On June 1, 2018, Yu's wife gave birth to a boy at a hospital in Seoul, South Korea.

Filmography Film Year English title Chinese title Role Notes 2007 Crazy in Love Brother Xi 2008 Sailfish Qi yu Gao Ming 2011 Wu Yunduo Wu Yunduo Beginning of the Great Revival Liu Shaoqi 2017 Eternal Wave Big Cat 2026Crossing 四渡City Defense Commander

TV series Year English title Chinese title Role Notes 2006 My Kung Fu Girlfriend Du Runnan 2007 Past Events Zhang Xiaolu 2008 Game of Life and Death Xiao Ke I'm the Sun Shao Yue 2009 Fighting in Peking Feng Mu See A-Lang Again Zheng Guyi 2010 Sword Without Front Shen Hao Mao Anying Mao Anying Mother Man Cang 2011 A Cheng Jiang Haisheng 2012 The Happy Time of the Spicy and Hot Girlfriend Luo Yin Jin Rui Yang Tianhong 2014 Deng Xiaoping at History's Crossroads Deng Zhifang City and Country Life Man Cang Moving Muzzle Lu Tianhong 2015 Beautiful Village Girl Ding Zhun Namchow Mechanic Heroes Fang Tianhai Storm over Ordos Ta La 2016 Ultimate Mission Gao Han 2017 Soma Flowers Mu Xia Hero Liang Tianci Her Guo Hu The Dream is Getting Closer Zhao Jiaping The Wolf Warriors Ma Gaitian 2018 About Time Zhang Qiang

Drama Year English title Chinese title Role Notes 2013 Mao Zedong and His Elder Son Mao Anying

Music video appearances Year English title Chinese title Singer Notes 2003 Hope 2005 When You Want to Know Who Alone Yaya Meng 2006 Message Board Huang Yue

Variety show Year English title Original title Television Notes 1 December 2010 Art Life CCTV-3 6 August 2011 China Feelings CCTV-4 1 September 2011 Avenue of Stars CCTV-1 25 February 2012 The Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea: Happy New Year CCTV-8 9 August 2012 Best Live BTV 22 November 2012 Fashionable Tourism Qinghai Television 1 May 2013 Thank God You are Coming CCTV-1 20 November 2013 The Most Unusual National Opera Fan Shandong Television 16 December 2013 I Love My Family BTV 1 September 2014 Film and Television Drama BTV 14 February 2015 A Letter to Home Shandong Television 12 March 2016 Family and Children Shandong Television 26 March 2017 Super Sound Wave Shandong Television 10 July 2017 Same Bed, Different Dreams 2: You Are My Destiny SBS

Music (as composer) Year English title Chinese title Singer Notes 2006 I Find Happiness That Year Tarcy Su Love is Never Wrong Sun Ho 7-27 Maggie Teng 2007 The Plight We Made Jane Zhang with Lee Wei Song. Secret Love Huang Xiaoming Scorpio Lover Huang Xiaoming 2008 Out of Tune Wong Jinglun Experimenting Stephen Fung 2009 Blue Sky Pace Wu Ban Tiger Huang 2011 Occasionally Ordinary Hacken Lee with Lee Wei Song.

Awards and nominations Year Award Category Nominated work Result Notes 2017 SBS Entertainment Awards Hot Star of the Year Same Bed, Different Dreams 2: You Are My Destiny