Bai Ling Biography

Bai Ling (meaning "White Spirit") was born in Chengdu, China, on October 10, 1970, during that country's Cultural Revolution. Her father was a music teacher, and her mother was a dancer and stage actress. As a result of their creative professions, the government cruelly treated Bai Ling's parents, and so the infant Bai Ling was sent to Szechwan to be raised by her grandmother.

While Bai Ling sang in her school choir as a child, it wasn't until she turned 14 and became a "soldier" in the People's Liberation Army that she took to the stage; she was put in a performance troupe sent to entertain soldiers in Tibet for three years. Like her parents before her, Bai Ling clashed with authority, and she was accused of insubordination for using tobacco and alcohol. By the end of her army service, Bai Ling suffered from depression and was hospitalized.