Yang Zi (; born 6 November 1992), also known as Andy Yang, is a Chinese actress and singer. Known for her roles in film and television, she has received several accolades including a Magnolia Award. Yang has ranked among China's most influential and highest paid actresses and was named as one of the Four Dan Actresses of the post 90s generation by Southern Metropolis Daily. Yang was listed by Forbes as an honoree on the Forbes China 30 under 30 list in 2017 and on the Forbes China Celebrity 100 list in 2017, 2019, 2020, and 2021. In 2020, Forbes also named her as one of the most influential star in Asia on their Asia's 100 Digital Star list.
Yang has attended the Performing Arts School of Beijing Film Academy. As a child, she rose to fame after acting in the popular sitcom Home with Kids. Transitioning to adult roles, she earned critical acclaim with Love Comes Knocking on the Door (2011), Battle of Changsha (2014), Yangko Dance (2015) and Insistence (2012) for which she won the Best Newcomer Award at the 14th Golden Phoenix Awards. Her breakthrough came with the xianxia drama Noble Aspirations (2016) and the urban drama Ode to Joy (2016). For her performance in Ode to Joy, she was nominated for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress awards in the 29th China TV Golden Eagle Award and 23rd Shanghai Television Festival respectively.
Yang continued to rise to mainstream fame with a string of successful television series including Ashes of Love (2018), Go Go Squid! (2019), The Oath of Love (2022), Immortal Samsara (2022), Lost You Forever (2023), Best Choice Ever (2024), Flourished Peony (2025) and Born to Be Alive (2026). For her performance in Born to Be Alive, she won the Best Actress award at the 31st Shanghai Television Festival. She also became the first actress to earn three consecutive Best Actress nomination at the Shanghai Television Festival for Lost You Forever, Flourished Peony and Born to Be Alive.
She also made her mark on the big screen with the films YOLO (2024), Bodies at Rest (2019) and The Bravest (2019) for which she got a Best Supporting Actress nomination in the 35th Hundred Flowers Awards. Yang was named "Actress of the Year" by the Chinese magazine People (人物). She was one of the torchbearers for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Early life and education Yang was born as Yang Ni’ao () on 6 November 1992 in Fangshan District, Beijing, China. Her father Yang Yunfei was a firefighter who worked in emergency rescue and disaster relief and her mother Ma Haiyan was a housewife. Her father named her Yang Ni’ao to wish China a successful bid for the Olympics. From an early age, her parents accompanied her to various audition because of her love for acting. She first starred in Ru Chi Chu Shan at the age of 6.
Yang studied at Beijing Fangshan District Xingcheng Primary School, and Beijing No. 55 High School. In 2010, she was accepted to Beijing Film Academy and graduated on 22 May 2014, with a major in performance.
Career 1999–2009: Beginnings and rise to prominence In 1999, Yang made her acting debut by playing Zhou Qiong in Ru Ci Chu Shan. In 2002, Yang had a minor role as little Consort Donggo in Xiaozhuang Epic. In May 2004, Yang made her big-screen debut in the youth romance film Girl's Diary, playing Ran Dongyang, an elementary school student. She received a Best Child Actor nomination at the Tongniu Film Awards for her performance in the film.
In 2005, Yang rose to prominence playing Xia Xue in the popular mainland Chinese sitcom Home with Kids. The series reached number one in ratings when it aired in China, and won the Outstanding Television Series (for children) award at the Flying Apsaras Awards and the Golden Eagle Awards. Yang became a household name in China since then. In March, she played little Bing Yue in historical costume drama Young Kangxi. In 2006, she reprised her role as Xia Xue in the sequel Home with Kids 2, though not in the subsequent installments.
In June 2008, Yang released her first solo album titled Home with Snow, which is named after her character's name in Home with Kids. In 2009, Yang voiced Ma Xiaotiao in the comedy animation series Mo's Mischief: Teacher's Pet, adapted from Yang Hongying's children's literature series of the same name. The same year, Yang played her first leading role in the youth drama Girl Rushes Forward.
2010–2015: Transition to teenage roles In 2010, Yang starred in the friendship drama Boy's Diary. Then she was admitted to the Performance Institute of Beijing Film Academy. In February 2011, she starred in the family drama Love Comes Knocking on the Door, based on the novel Stepmother by Geling Yan. Her role as a rebellious teenager allowed her to successfully shed her image of a "child star".
In May 2012, Yang starred in the medical drama Angel Heart, portraying a kindhearted nurse. In August, she starred in the horror mystery thriller film Insistence, and won the Best Newcomer Award at the 14th Golden Phoenix Awards. She also performed the official soundtrack, "The Quiet Rubble" for the film. In February 2013, Yang played the lead role in the period comedy drama King Rouge. In April, she starred in the family drama Dad Comes Home. In August, she starred in the romance drama Flowers in Fog, written by acclaimed Taiwanese writer Chiung Yao.
In March 2014, Yang starred in her first war drama Battle of Changsha, directed by Magnolia Award-winner Kong Sheng. The show was set against the backdrop of the Battle of Changsha in 1939 during World War II. Yang played the role of Hu Xiangxiang, a nurse in the field hospital with different temperaments from the bright and lively girlhood to the aftermath of being a wife and a mother. The show was a critical success and was voted Best Drama of 2014 in major streaming website Douban after being broadcast on CCTV-8 beginning mid-July 2014. In May, Yang joined the second season of youth inspirational reality show We Are Young as a regular cast member.
In April 2015, Yang joined Dragon TV's star travel-reality show Sisters Over Flowers as a regular cast member. In August, she starred in the youth romance film Where Are All The Time. In October, Yang starred in the period drama Yangko Dance, which is a story inspired by the Haiyang Yangge folk dance that follows a man who gets caught in the complications of family, love and revenge. Within 21 days of its broadcast, the series became the Provincial Television Prime Ratings Champion in Jiangsu Television and Tianjin TV, maintaining top 5 positions till the end of its broadcast and has reached a total of 10 billion online views. Yang's portrayal of the kindhearted and patriotic young lady received positive reviews. The same month, she co-starred in the horror mystery web series The Ferryman.
2016–2019: Rising popularity and breakthrough In April 2016, Yang starred in the metropolitan romance drama Ode to Joy, which depicts the stories of five young women who comes from different social and educational backgrounds, but share a common goal. The show received critical acclaim and commercial success, and Yang gained widespread recognition for her portrayal of Qiu Yingying, a simple-minded girl from a small town. Yang was nominated for the Best Actress award at the China TV Golden Eagle Award, and the Best Supporting Actress award at the 23rd Shanghai Television Festival for her performance. In June, she starred in urban romance drama Perfect Wedding, where she played the role of a wedding planner. In July, she portrayed Lu Xueqi, one of the two female protagonists in Noble Aspirations, the television series adaption of the Xianxia novel Zhu Xian. The drama was a commercial success and accumulated 23 billion views online, the highest record held by a Chinese drama at that time. Yang gained wider popularity as a result and was nominated at the 22nd Huading Awards as Best Actress in the ancient drama category for her performance. In August, she co-starred in Crying Out in Love, a film based on the romance novel Socrates in Love by Japanese novelist Kyoichi Katayama. In December, she returned in the second season of Noble Aspirations as Lu Xueqi.
In May 2017, she starred in the historical romance comedy drama Legend of Dragon Pearl. Yang reprised her role as Qiu Yingying in the second installment of Ode to Joy.
In April 2018, she played a guest role in the urban drama Women in Beijing. She then joined the second season of Chinese youth variety show Give Me Five, as a regular cast member. In July, she starred in The Destiny of White Snake, a fantasy romance drama based on the renowned Chinese folktale. Yang's portrayal of the innocent and naive snake spirit; as well as her voice-dub for the character, received positive reviews. In August, Yang starred in the fantasy romance drama Ashes of Love, playing an innocent and lively fairy maiden. The series was a commercial success, topping both television and web ratings; and received positive reviews. Yang received acclaim for her acting and experienced a new high in popularity. On 26 November, she joined Sina Entertainment's year-end special project short film "The Most Beautiful Performance".
On 28 May 2019, Yang unveiled her wax figure at Madame Tussauds Beijing through an unveiling ceremony. In July, she starred in the e-sport romantic comedy drama Go Go Squid!, playing a talented computer major who is also a popular online singer. The drama topped television ratings and had been streamed more than 9.6 billion times in its timeslot and was praised for its transmitting positive and uplifting messages such as the pursuit of dreams as well as patriotism. The success of Go Go Squid reaffirmed Yang's popularity. She won the Best Actress award in modern drama category at the 26th Huading Awards for her performance. She also sang the ending theme song of the drama titled "Milk Bread", which reached number 2 on Billboard China Social Chart. She then joined the third season of cooking reality show Chinese Restaurant 3 as a regular cast member. In August, Yang featured in the disaster film The Bravest as the wife of a firefighter, the film achieved a box office result of 1.679 billion yuan and Yang won the Most Popular Supporting Actress award at the 16th Guangzhou Student Film Festival. She was also nominated for the Best Supporting Actress award at the 35th Hundred Flowers Awards and the 11th Macau International Film Festival for her performance. The same month, she starred in the crime suspense film Bodies at Rest playing a forensics scientist. She then starred in the romance environmental protection drama My Mowgli Boy where she played a marketing executive.
2020–2023: Further prominence In October 2020, she featured in the segment "Last Lesson" directed by Xu Zheng as part of the nationalistic film My People, My Homeland, and sang the promotional OST "My Homeland" for the film. In November, she starred in Hear Her, the first monologue series in China about women's rights. Hear Her is based on the format of BBC Studio's short-film series Snatches: Moments from Women's Lives, produced and directed by famous Chinese actress Zhao Wei. Her themed episode is called "Wish for Love". On 20 December, as the "Guardian of National Treasure" Yang participated in an episode of the third season of large-scale cultural exploration CCTV-1 show National Treasure.