Chinese Actress Zhao Wei Reveals Rare Public Appearance in Yunnan
Chinese actress Zhao Wei, who has been banned from the spotlight since August 2021, recently made a rare public appearance, sharing her current situation with fans. She posted a series of photos from her trip to Kunming, Yunnan on social media, showing a noticeably different appearance compared to her days as a red carpet queen. This sparked widespread attention and discussion among netizens.
In the photos taken at Haiyan Village by Dianchi Lake in Kunming, Zhao Wei appeared without makeup, wearing a gray short-sleeved shirt, black casual pants, and a straw hat, squatting by the water watching birds. Without bodyguards following her or assistants bustling around, she looked like an ordinary middle-aged tourist.
Many netizens who zoomed in on the pictures noticed that the 50-year-old Zhao Wei has lost a significant amount of weight. Her cheeks appeared sunken, her cheekbones slightly protruded, and her once plump apple cheeks were no more. What struck people the most was the dullness in her eyes, which used to be lively and expressive during her days in the drama “My Fair Princess,” now appeared tired. Netizens even questioned if it was really Zhao Wei, commenting that she looked “so thin to the point where she is unrecognizable.”
In fact, Zhao Wei previously made a low-key appearance at the 30th anniversary reunion of the 1996 performance department graduates of the Beijing Film Academy. At that time, she took a photo with her university classmates such as Chen Kun and Huang Xiaoming. Although she had dyed red hair and a smile on her face, signs of her thin and weary appearance were already visible.
After being completely banned from the internet and her entertainment career hitting rock bottom in August 2021, Zhao Wei officially divorced her husband, businessman Huang Youlong, at the end of 2024, and multiple assets and equities under her name were frozen by the court.
Despite the setbacks, Zhao Wei has not given up on trying to return to the public eye. She made a New Year’s Eve appearance on her own winery’s live stream, but the broadcast was abruptly cut off by the platform within 10 minutes. She then attempted to go live anonymously through overseas accounts and pseudonyms, but all her attempts were swiftly intercepted and banned. Even when her early directorial work, the film “So Young,” was re-released, her name was removed from the director’s column.