23 Facts About Hou Yaowen

Hou Yaowen, or Hou Yuewen, was a Chinese xiangsheng actor originally from Beijing.

Hou Yaowen was born in 1948, the third son of crosstalk master Hou Baolin.

Hou Yaowen became a xiangsheng actor in 1960 at the age of 12.

Hou Yaowen's mother, Wang Yalan, a native of Tianjin, was a Peking Opera performer.

Hou Yaowen's profound Peking Opera skills benefited from his mother's teaching.

Hou Yaowen died of a heart attack at his home on June 23,2007, aged 59.

In 1960, Hou Yaowen made his debut performance, "Drunk", which was previously performed by his father.

Since then, because his father opposed his aspirations, Hou Yaowen was referred to as "Little Adi" as his stage name for the first four years of his career.

In 1965, Hou Yaowen graduated from junior high school and was admitted to the China Railway Art Troupe, where he partnered with Shi Fukuan.

On July 28,1976, six days after the Tangshan earthquake, Hou Yaowen went to the disaster area with the railway rescue team for rescue and condolences.

Hou Yaowen's father, Hou Baolin, was a representative of the conference, leading him to recognize Hou Yaowen's position in the practice.

Hou Yaowen participated in the central condolence group and went to the front lines of the Sino-Vietnamese border in a self-defense counterattack.

Hou Yaowen served as the judge of CCTV National TV Crosstalk Competition.

On September 11,2003, the "Global Conference of Overseas Chinese Promoting the Peaceful Reunification of China" was held in Moscow, and Hou Yaowen attended the Mid-Autumn Festival party for the delegates.

The China Railway Art Troupe, led by Hou Yaowen, performed with Degang Guo, Yu Qian, Shi Fukuan, Yang Jinming, Shi Shengjie, Li Jiacun, Qizhi and Chen Hanbai.

Hou Yaowen was the third son of the late crosstalk performer Hou Baolin.

Hou Yaowen's mother was Wang Yalan, a Tianjin native and Peking Opera actress.

In 1990, Hou Yaowen ended his marriage with Leo Liu, a dancer of the Railway Art Troupe and mother of his eldest daughter Hou Zan.

In 1993, Hou Yaowen married Yuan Yin, a student of Beijing Film Academy, and divorced in 2004.

Hou Yaowen had twenty-eight disciples including Li Bocheng, Li Boliang, Zhao Guangwu, Jia Lun, Gao Yuqing, Li Bingjie, Dan Lianli, Chen Hanbai, Guo Qiulin, Liu Ji, Li Fusheng, Wang Wei, Ma Xiaoping, Wang Zhaolin, Yang Guang, Qi Zhi, Jiang Guicheng, Wang Yu, Liu Jie, Guo Xiaoxiao, Jing Linye, Guo Degang and Chang Kuan.

Hou Yaowen first studied storytelling with Gao Qinghai, a storytelling elder, and then studied crosstalk with Chang Baofeng, a famous crosstalk artist.

Later in the afternoon, Hou Yaowen reportedly felt seriously unwell and called a neighbor to attend to him; his neighbor ended up dialing 999 but was reportedly too far from Hou Yaowen's location.

Hou Yaowen was rushed to the Peking University Third Hospital, where he died 40 minutes later aged 58.