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

Errenzhuan ''Errenzhuan'' or two-people rotation () is a genre of local folk dance and song from Northeast China, usually involving two performers (one male and one female). The dance uses folded fans or square-shaped red handkerchiefs, which are twirled as ...

under

Zhao Benshan Zhao Benshan (; 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 Gala, a widely watched performing arts program, ...

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 Tianxia Yingcai Cultural Media Co., LTD () in 2007 in Beijing and are held more than once each year across multiple entertainment media from Chinese televisi ...

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 () 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, Liaoyuan to the northwest, an ...

Jilin Jilin (; alternately romanized as Kirin or Chilin) is one of the three provinces of Northeast China. Its capital and largest city is Changchun. Jilin borders North Korea (Rasŏn, North Hamgyong, Ryanggang and Chagang) and Russia (Prim ...

. 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 () formerly romanized as Heilungkiang, is a province in northeast China. The standard one-character abbreviation for the province is (). It was formerly romanized as "Heilungkiang". It is the northernmost and easternmost province ...

, working as a

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

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 Heilongjiang Television (HLJTV, ), is a television network in the Heilongjiang province of China. The Heilongjiang Television and Radio Broadcast Center is located in the Long Ta (Dragon Tower). It is associated with Long Guang Long Guang () ...

show ''Benshan Happy Camp''.

Career

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

Liaoning Liaoning () is a coastal province in Northeast China that is the smallest, southernmost, and most populous province in the region. With its capital at Shenyang, it is located on the northern shore of the Yellow Sea, and is the northernmost ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. 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 Happiness, in the context of Mental health, mental or emotional states, is positive or Pleasure, pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. Other forms include life satisfaction, well-being, subjective well-being, flourishin ...

'' 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 the fourth studio album ''Let It Break''. It was the second single release from the album. Background The song was previously titled 'Tokyo' and some of the lyrics feat ...

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

Wang Leehom Wang Leehom (; born May 17, 1976), sometimes credited as Leehom Wang, is an American singer-songwriter, actor, producer, and film director. Formally trained at Eastman School of Music, Williams College and Berklee College of Music, his music i ...

's concert tour during the

Shenzhen Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern province ...

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