Jin Xing: The Ultimate Self-Made Woman
As possibly China’s most famous dancer, Jin Xing was always going to live a life in the spotlight. When you throw her history as a former PLA-colonel, and man, into the mix, the story gets even more fascinating. Talk sat down with the star to find out about her current life as celebrity, wife and mother.
Jin Xing’s story is familiar to almost everyone in China – born during the chaos of the Cultural Revolution in Shenyang to ethnically Korean parents, as a nine-year-old boy, Jin Xing joined the People Liberation Army’s military dance troupe and eventually became a colonel.
At the age of 19, Jin Xing would become the first Chinese dancer to win a grant from Asian Cultural Council of America and the American Dance Festival to dance in New York. After six years abroad (living in the US and Europe), having scaled the heights of the dancing world, Jin Xing returned to China with a new dream – to become a woman.
Though the decision was obviously controversial, particularly in China during the mid-nineties, when homosexuality was still considered a crime, tagged as "hooliganism," and officially listed as a "mental disorder."
Jin Xing was, once again, determined and, importantly, had the support of her family. At the age of 28, she underwent three operations and became the first transgender woman recognised by the Chinese government.
Not satisfied with racking up this many “firsts”, Jin Xing decided it was time for Chinese dance to have a non-government sponsored route to artistic expression, and in 1999 she formed China’s first independent dance company, Jin Xing Dance Theatre.
When Talk recently met with Jin Xing at the Bund’s historic Peace Hotel, she was the very embodiment of elegance, wearing a qipao and black blazer with gold and pearl jewellery, her hair pinned back and make-up immaculate.
As for why she has made her home (and based her dance company) in Shanghai rather than the more established cultural capital of Beijing for the past 13 years, Jin Xing points to Shanghai’s similarities to another financial capital, where your skills, rather than your proximity to political power, is the most important key to your success.
“For me as an individual artist, I don’t depend on any connection or guanxi to establish myself, I just want to be free to be who I am and Shanghai is the place where you have to show yourself, people look at you and think, ‘What can you do?’ That’s the kind of mentality and platform I like, it’s kind of like New York,” she said.
“If you are good, you will succeed, if you are no good, you disappear. That’s why I came to Shanghai and that’s why I like it here.”
Professionally speaking, these days Jin Xing keeps herself busy with her dance company, as well as numerous television appearances and social media stardom (she boasts more than 350,000 followers on Sina Weibo).
“Next week I’m going to Shenzhen and then Chengdu to continue my theatre play and before my TV schedule takes off. From April to September, I turn down a lot of TV work to focus on my dance company, but from October on, I start doing a lot more TV productions,” she said.
As a judge on reality television and a talk show host, Jin Xing has garnered a reputation as something of a straight shooter and, according to her, it’s not just a posture she puts on for the cameras.
“People who don’t know me think I am creating a certain image when I’m on TV, but the reason I don’t have that much pressure or stress when I do a TV production is because I don’t need to act, I just be myself,” Jin Xing said.
“Being truthful is the key to my success, being straightforward and truthful, I think that’s why people like me – they hear a real voice.”
For the past 13 years, Jin Xing’s most important job has been as a mother. Always an animated speaker, the former dancer lights up when she tells anecdotes about her three adopted children, obviously the light of her life.
“The most important [lesson I try to teach my children] is how to take responsibility. According to my own childhood, at nine-years-old, I left my family; from nine-years-old I was making my own decisions about my life and I want to teach them to take responsibility for their actions and from there take control of your own life,” she explained.
The world in which she, along with husband of nine years Heinz-Gerd Oidtmann, are bringing up their children couldn’t be more different to the one Jin Xing was raised in, though she is philosophical about whether the China of 40 years ago or today is a better, or easier, place to be a either a child or a parent.
“In my childhood everyone believed strongly in communism and Mao and at that time all of China was Red China. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that, I had a happy childhood, my parent’s generation might have a different opinion about it, but as a child, I was happy, my life was simple, society was poor, but safe,” Jin Xing reminisced.
“Now life is more material, people have a lot of things, confidence and quality of life. At this time, as my children are growing up, I have to fight the society and not let the bad things in society influence them too much, I feel like I am fighting all the time.”
Though China is undoubtedly more open-minded than it was in her youth, Jin Xing is still aware of the prejudice about their unusual family history that confronts her kids, and she tries to combat small-mindedness but showing her children a big wide world.
By showing her children a way of life beyond China, and opening their eyes to different experiences, Jin Xing hopes to teach them that there is more that unites people than divides them.
“My children are very lucky, they’ve been able to go to many places and these experiences are very important. If a child can go to Europe of Egypt and see different people, cultures and history, I believe it teaches them that people are not so different,” she said.
Much of her energy and passion these days is dedicated to fighting for children in general, particularly those who show an interest in exploring their creativity, an element of the education system in modern day China that is still lacking.
“Creativity, individual thinking and making your own judgments, that’s what I want to teach my own children and the young generation,” Jin Xing said.
“Open your mind, have your own thoughts and use your brain, make your decision and then take responsibility for that decision, it’s step by step.”
This is a philosophy Jin Xing has lived to the fullest, with the help of dance – her outlet and method of communicating her innermost desires with an outside world that didn’t always understand her.
When asked about a life without dance, Jin Xing dismisses the suggestion as an impossible situation for her. It has been the one constant in a life of with more twists and turns than any mystery novel.
“I think dancing is a special way of expressing yourself, by closing your mouth and moving your physical body and using it to communicate with the world. I cannot imagine [being without it], I’ve never thought about that,” she said.
As for the lessons she hopes others might learn from the way in which she has very publicly and, at times painfully, lived her own story, Jin Xing believes there is nothing more important than being faithful to yourself – no matter the opposition.
“I hope people learn from my story to be faithful to yourself and truthful to your life and just don’t easily give up your wish or your dream,” she said.
“Be honest with yourself, truthful to your society and don’t give up your dream.”
Web: www.jinxing-dance-theatre.com
NYE with Jin Xing at the Peace Hotel
The inaugural edition of this New Year’s Eve charity ball is the beginning of an annual event the hotel and its famous patron hopes will continue for decades to come.
In aid of the Shanghai Children’s Foundation, the ball will come complete with fine food and drink, cabaret performances and a charity auction.
Jin Xing hopes to raise money to send a group of Chinese children overseas to experience international culture for the first time, and hopefully contribute to their cultural education.
Tickets for the society event of the year are priced from RMB 13,000 and more information will be available closer to the date.
Web: www.fairmont.com
