Famous People Born In Shanghai

Widely regarded as one of the greatest Chinese basketball players ever, Yao Ming represented the Houston Rockets of the NBA. Known as the Ming Dynasty in the US, Ming's popularity and success in the NBA made him a symbol of China. One of China's most popular sportsmen, Ming is also credited with introducing the Chinese Basketball Association to the world.

Angelababy is an actress, model, and singer who was selected as one of the New Four Dan Actresses in 2013 by Southern Metropolis Daily. She is known for playing Ding Sitian in the 2015 Chinese action adventure thriller film Mojin: The Lost Legend, for which she received the prestigious Hundred Flowers Award in 2016. Angelababy is also a well-known philanthropist.

Yang Yang is a Chinese actor who was ranked fifth in Forbes magazine's China Celebrity 100 list in 2017. Best known for playing important roles in films like Once Upon a Time and I Belonged to You, Yang Yang is the recipient of many prestigious awards like the Sohu Entertainment Award, Youku Young Choice Awards, and Tencent Video Star Awards.

Hu Ge began as a part-time host on TV shows at age 14 and then gained fame with the series Chinese Paladin. The Chinese actor was dragged into a controversy after stating that men are born to be playboys. An avid photographer, too, he often brings his cameras to sets.

Nobel Prize-winning Chinese physicist Charles K. Kao is best remembered for his discovery of how light is transmitted through fibre-optic cables. Named the Godfather of Broadband, he was also knighted by the U.K. Following his diagnosis of Alzheimer disease, he co-founded the Charles K. Kao Foundation for Alzheimer’s Disease.

Hurdler Liu Xiang created history by becoming the first Chinese Olympic gold medalist in any men’s track-and-field event. While he excelled in high jump in his younger days, he deviated to hurdles by 15. He has also earned gold medals at the world championships and the Asian Games.

J. G. Ballard was an English novelist, satirist, short story writer, and essayist. Renowned for his uniqueness, Ballard's style of fiction is referred to as Ballardian in the literary world. Many of his works have inspired movies, such as Crash and High-Rise. J. G. Ballard’s work has also inspired other popular writers like John Gray, Terry Dowling, and Lee Killough.

Li Peng was a Chinese politician and hydroelectric engineer. From 1987 to 1998, he served as the premier of the People's Republic of China. As Premier, Li was responsible for the Tiananmen Square Massacre as he chose to use force to quell the protests of 1989. He is credited with overseeing the Three Gorges Dam project, which is the largest dam in the world.

Mary Hayley Bell was an English writer and actress. She is perhaps best remembered for her novel Whistle Down the Wind, which was later adapted into a film with her daughter Hayley Mills playing the lead role. As far as her acting career is concerned, Mary Hayley Bell had a prominent stage acting career for about a decade. 

Born to Australian-born Chinese parents in Shanghai, cardiac surgeon Victor Chang grew up in Hong Kong, Myanmar, and Sichuan, in the aftermath of the Second Sino-Japanese War. His mother’s death from breast cancer made him study medicine. The pioneer of heart transplantation, Chang was killed in an extortion attempt.

Chen Yun was a Chinese political leader who played a major role during the Chinese economic reform. He was regarded as one of the most influential political leaders of China during the '80s and '90s. He also played an important role during the Chinese Civil War and was later counted among the Eight Great Eminent Officials of China.

Soong Ching-ling was a Chinese political figure. Referred to as Madame Sun Yat-sen, Soong is best known as the wife of Sun Yat-sen, who played a major role in the establishment of the Republic of China. Soong played a key role in China's politics before and after the formation of the People's Republic of China.  

Tsung-Dao Lee is a Chinese-American physicist renowned for his work on particle physics, parity violation, soliton stars, nontopological solitons, and the Lee Model. In 1957, he became the third-youngest person to be awarded the prestigious Nobel Prize in the science fields; he won the Nobel Prize in Physics. He is also the first Chinese Nobel laureate. 

Zhang Ailing was a Chinese-born American novelist, essayist, and screenwriter. A realist and modernist writer, Chang is credited with writing the scripts of many successful films like Miserable at Middle Age, Qing Chang Ru Zhan Chang, and Jin Suo Ji. Zhang Ailing is also credited with influencing and inspiring many creative writers in Taiwan, including Chu T’ien-wen and Yuan Chiung-chiung.

Wang Liqin is a Chinese former professional table tennis player who was selected to represent his country at the age of 15. A former world number 1, Wang won 11 World Championships, three World Cups, four Asian Games gold medals, and two Olympic Games gold medals during his playing career. He also has two Olympic bronze medals under his belt.

Chinese chess Grandmaster and Woman Grandmaster Ju Wenjun is the reigning Women's World Chess Champion. The Shanghai-born chess sensation won secured the second place in the Asian Women’s Chess Championship at 13 and later also won an Asian Games gold. She became the Chinese women’s champion for the first time at 19.

Son of shipping magnate and Orient Overseas founder C.Y. Tung, Tung Chee-hwa was educated in Hong Kong, Britain, and the U.S. before taking over the leadership of his family business. He later became the chief executive of Hong Kong and is still known as the “kingmaker” of Hong Kong’s politics.

Born in China, opera singer Zheng Cao later moved to the US to study and further her music career. She had an illustrious career, with major roles in operas such as The Bonesetter’s Daughter and Madama Butterfly. She died at age 46, after a long battle with lung cancer.

Shannon Lucid once held the record for the longest space stay by any woman and by any American. Born in China, to missionaries, she was imprisoned by the Japanese, along with her parents, as an infant. The family then moved to the U.S., where Lucid studied at the University of Oklahoma.

Zhenli Ye Gon is a Chinese-Mexican businessman who owns various Mexican corporations including Unimed Pharm Chem México. A suspected member of the Sinaloa Cartel, Zhenli Ye Gon is currently under the scanner for allegedly trafficking pseudoephedrine into Mexico from Asia. 

Born in Shanghai, An Wang studied electrical engineering before moving to Harvard to get his PhD. The Wang Laboratories co-founder is remembered for inventing the magnetic core memory, which was the main component of computers till the invention of the microchip. He also developed many word-processing systems.

Wu Minxia is a Chinese former professional diver who has five Olympic gold medals, eight World Championship titles, and five Asian Games gold medals under her belt. She has also won Olympic silver and bronze, which makes her one of the most successful female divers in the history of modern Olympics. Wu is also one of China’s most celebrated divers.