Yu Zhenhuan

Biography

Yu Zhenhuan was born in 1977 in a small village in Xiuyan County, Liaoning Province, to ordinary farming parents. A month after birth, he was found to be covered in black, stiff hair over nearly his entire body except for his palms and finger joints. A research team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences diagnosed him with congenital hypertrichosis, a genetic mutation, while his physical and mental development remained entirely normal. Named Yu Zhenhuan ("shocking the world") at age two, he became famous across China in the 1970s and received a monthly state subsidy until age eight. In 1985, a Hong Kong film company produced a film specifically for him, "The Little Hairy Kid's Treasure Adventure," in which he played the lead. He did not continue his acting career due to low self-esteem and depression, dropping out of school and isolating himself at home. He began working with local performance troupes at age eleven and started learning music at seventeen. His family moved to Shenyang in 1992, and he returned to the stage at fifteen but faced cold stares and mockery from audiences. Overcoming his psychological struggles, he became a professional singer performing in karaoke bars and nightclubs. In 2004, he released his first solo single, "Still Loving You."