Ren Jialun: The Life Story Behind China's Romantic Star
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Ren Jialun has lived more than one life before he became a star. He was a table tennis player as a boy, a young man working at an airport, a singer and dancer trying to make it in Korea, and then, at last, an actor in China, playing princes, generals, and lovers in dramas that millions of people watched. That long road, with its turns and its false starts, is what makes his story different from many other stars. He did not go straight from school to fame. He tried, he failed, he tried again, and he kept going until the right door opened. When it opened, in The Glory of Tang Dynasty, he walked through it with a calm that came from having already lived a few lives.
He was born in Qingdao, Shandong, in 1989, a coastal city known for its sea, its beer, and its strong winds. As a child, he played table tennis, a sport that China takes seriously, and he trained hard, learning discipline, speed, and the ability to stay calm under pressure. An injury, or the hard reality of competition, ended that dream, and he had to find a new path. He worked at an airport, a job that is far from glamour, and he learned what ordinary work feels like. Then he went to Korea to train as a singer and dancer, a dream that also did not work out as he had hoped. He returned to China, and he began to act, taking small roles, learning the craft, and waiting for a chance.
That chance came in 2017, when he played Li Chu in The Glory of Tang Dynasty, a prince who must survive in a dangerous court, who loves deeply and who fights for his place. The drama became a success, and Ren Jialun became a star. Since then, he has played leading roles in Under the Power, in One and Only, in Forever and Ever, and in many other dramas, building a career as a romantic leading man, a hero who is both strong and gentle. His story is about not giving up, about trying a second and a third path, and about finding, at last, the work that fits.
Table Tennis in Qingdao
Ren Jialun was born on 11 April 1989 in Qingdao, a port city in the province of Shandong, on the east coast of China. Qingdao is a city of sea air, of hills, of old German buildings, and of a strong sporting culture. As a boy, Ren Jialun played table tennis, a sport that is almost a national passion in China, and he trained with the seriousness that the sport demands. Table tennis looks simple, but it is fast, it is precise, and it asks a player to think quickly, to move quickly, and to stay calm when the ball comes fast. Ren Jialun learned those lessons as a child, and they stayed with him long after he stopped playing.
He was a talented young player, and he dreamed, as many young athletes do, of a career in sport. But sport is a hard world, and only a few players reach the top. An injury, and the reality of competition, meant that his table tennis dream did not lead to a professional career. That kind of loss is hard for a young person, because it feels like a door closing on a life you had imagined. Ren Jialun faced that loss, and he had to find a new door. He did not give up on life. He looked for another path, and he found one, first in ordinary work, and then in music and dance.
The table tennis years were not wasted. They taught him discipline, they taught him how to practise, how to lose, how to try again, and how to stay calm under pressure. Those lessons are useful in any career, but they are especially useful in acting, where a person must be ready, must be focused, and must keep going even when a scene is hard. Ren Jialun brought that athlete’s discipline to his later work, and it is visible in his performances, in the way he stands, in the way he moves, in the way he holds a sword or a bow. He is not only an actor. He is a former athlete, and his body remembers the training.
His childhood in Qingdao also gave him a love of the sea, of open spaces, of a city that is both old and new. That love of home stayed with him, even when he travelled to Korea, even when he moved to Beijing for work. He is a man from Qingdao, and that identity, coastal, direct, hardworking, is part of who he is, both on screen and off it.
Airport Work and a Dream in Korea
After table tennis, Ren Jialun worked at an airport in Qingdao, a job that is ordinary, practical, and far from the stage. He checked in passengers, he handled luggage, he worked long hours, and he learned what a normal working life feels like. That experience is rare for a star, and it is valuable, because it gives a person a sense of what most people live through every day. An actor who has worked a normal job understands ordinary people better, and he can play them with more truth. Ren Jialun’s airport years gave him that understanding, and they also gave him time to think about what he wanted to do next.
He wanted to perform, and he decided to try a career in music and dance. He went to South Korea, a country known for its idol training system, where young people train for years to become singers and dancers. He trained there, learning dance, singing, and stage performance, and he hoped to debut as an idol. The training was hard, the competition was fierce, and the dream did not work out as he had hoped. He did not debut in the way he had imagined, and he returned to China, with a new set of skills, a new understanding of performance, and a new determination to find his place.
The Korea years were not a failure, even though they did not lead to a debut. They taught him dance, they taught him stage presence, and they taught him how to work in a foreign country, far from home, in a language that was not his own. That experience, of being a stranger in a new place, of learning to adapt, is useful for an actor, because acting is, in part, about adapting to new worlds, new characters, new stories. Ren Jialun learned to adapt in Korea, and he brought that skill back to China with him.
When he returned, he began to act. He took small roles, he learned the craft, and he waited. He had already tried table tennis, airport work, and idol training, and he had learned from each of them. Acting would be his fourth path, and it would be the one that finally fit. He was not a young student fresh from school. He was a man in his twenties who had lived, worked, and tried, and that life experience gave his acting a depth that younger actors often lack.
The Glory of Tang Dynasty
In 2017, Ren Jialun took the leading role in The Glory of Tang Dynasty, a historical drama about Li Chu, a prince in the Tang dynasty, who must navigate a dangerous court, who loves a woman named Shen Zhenzhu, and who fights to protect his family and his country. The role was long, complex, and demanding, and it asked the actor to show a prince who is brave, clever, and deeply in love. Ren Jialun played Li Chu with a warmth and a seriousness that viewers loved, and the drama became a major success, both in China and abroad.
The Glory of Tang Dynasty mattered because it was Ren Jialun’s breakthrough, the role that turned him from a working actor into a star. Before it, he was known to few people. After it, he was known to millions. The drama’s success was built on its story, its costumes, its music, and its performances, and Ren Jialun’s performance was at the centre of it. He played a prince who is not perfect, who makes mistakes, who loves deeply, and who learns to lead. That humanity made the character believable, and it made the audience care for him, episode after episode.
The drama also gave him a co-star, Jing Tian, who played Shen Zhenzhu, and their on-screen love story became one of the most talked-about of its year. Viewers loved the couple, they shared their scenes, and they waited for each new episode to see what would happen next. That kind of love story is the heart of a successful drama, and Ren Jialun played it with a sincerity that made it feel real, even in a world of palaces, swords, and ancient politics.
After The Glory of Tang Dynasty, Ren Jialun became a leading man, and he was offered more leading roles. He had waited for years, through table tennis, through airport work, through Korea, through small parts, and the wait had paid off. He was now a star, and he had earned that title through work, not through luck.
Under the Power and the Detective Hero
In 2019, Ren Jialun starred in Under the Power, a historical drama in which he played Lu Yi, a cold and clever officer in the Ming dynasty, who must work with Yuan Jinxia, a lively and brave female constable, to solve cases and to fight corruption. The role was different from Li Chu. Lu Yi is not a prince. He is a working officer, a man who is strict, who follows rules, and who slowly learns to love. Ren Jialun played him with a cool exterior and a warm heart, and the drama became a huge success, especially among young viewers who loved the chemistry between the two leads.
Under the Power worked because it combined detective stories, romance, and humour in a way that felt fresh. Each episode had a case to solve, a mystery to unravel, and a love story that grew slowly. Ren Jialun played Lu Yi as a man who is clever, who notices small details, and who protects the woman he loves without saying so directly. That quiet protection, played with restraint, made the audience love him. The drama’s success also showed that Ren Jialun could carry a modern-feeling historical story, one that was not only about palaces and princes, but about work, about justice, and about two people learning to trust each other.
The role also showed his range. Li Chu was a prince, warm and open. Lu Yi is an officer, cold and guarded. Ren Jialun played both with conviction, and the audience believed both. That ability to play different kinds of heroes, while keeping a core of sincerity, is what makes him a reliable leading man. He does not play the same man in every drama. He plays a prince, an officer, a general, a lover, each time with a new shade, each time with care.
After Under the Power, he continued to take leading roles, and his reputation as a romantic hero grew. He became known as an actor who can play love stories with depth, who can make a historical romance feel real, and who can carry a long drama without losing the audience’s attention. That reputation is valuable, and it has kept him busy, year after year.
One and Only, Forever and Ever, and a Double Story
In 2021, Ren Jialun starred in two related dramas, One and Only and Forever and Ever, which told one love story across two lifetimes. In One and Only, he played Zhou Shengchen, a general in ancient China, who loves Cui Shiyi, a woman who is promised to another, and whose love ends in tragedy. In Forever and Ever, he played the same soul in modern times, a chemistry professor who meets the reincarnation of his love and must find her again. The two dramas were a bold idea, and they became a major success, because viewers loved the idea of a love that lasts across lifetimes, and they loved Ren Jialun’s performance in both roles.
One and Only is a sad story, and Ren Jialun played Zhou Shengchen with a dignity and a sorrow that made viewers cry. The general is a man of honour, who will not break his word, even when it costs him his love, and even when it costs him his life. That kind of honour is rare in modern stories, and Ren Jialun played it with a seriousness that made it believable. The drama’s ending is tragic, and it stayed with viewers long after the final episode, a sign of a story well told.
Forever and Ever is a happier story, a modern romance about two people who find each other again, who learn to love in a new life, and who build a future together. Ren Jialun played the modern Zhou Shengchen as a gentle, clever, and kind man, a professor who is shy in love and brave in life. The contrast between the two roles, one ancient and tragic, one modern and hopeful, showed his range, and it gave his fans two versions of the same love to cherish. The pair of dramas became one of the most talked-about projects of 2021, and they cemented Ren Jialun’s place as a leading romantic actor.
These dramas also showed his ability to work with the same co-star, Bai Lu, in two different stories, and to make each story feel fresh. That is a hard thing to do, because the audience knows the actors, and they must forget the first story to believe the second. Ren Jialun and his co-star managed it, and the success of both dramas proved that their chemistry was real, and that Ren Jialun could carry a love story across two worlds.
Marriage, Family, and a Private Life
Ren Jialun is known for being open about his family in a way that many stars are not. He married his long-time partner, and he has a son, and he has spoken about his family with pride and with love. In an industry where many stars hide their marriages, Ren Jialun’s openness is refreshing, and it has earned him respect from fans who value honesty. He announced his marriage in a simple way, and he has continued to work, to be a husband and a father, and to be an actor, all at the same time.
That balance, between work and family, is hard for any actor, especially one who works long hours on location, far from home. Ren Jialun handles it by working hard when he is on set, and by returning home when he can, to be with his wife and son. He does not talk about his family in a loud way, but he does not hide them either. That middle path, open but not loud, is a wise one, and it shows that he values both his career and his life, and that he does not want one to destroy the other.
His marriage has also changed how people see him. He is no longer only a romantic hero on screen. He is a husband and a father in real life, a man who knows what love means beyond a script. That knowledge can be felt in his performances, in the way he plays a lover, a husband, a father, with a depth that comes from living, not only from acting. A man who has loved in real life plays love differently from a man who has only read about it, and Ren Jialun’s performances show that difference.
He continues to work, taking on new dramas, new roles, and new challenges, while keeping his family close. That is a good model for a long career, one that is built on work, on love, and on a life that is not only about fame. He has already lived several lives, from athlete to airport worker to idol trainee to actor, and he has brought something from each of those lives to his work. That is why his story feels rich, and why his fans trust him.
What Trying Again Teaches
Ren Jialun’s story is, at its heart, a story about trying again. He tried table tennis, and it did not work out. He tried airport work, and it was not his dream. He tried Korea, and it did not lead to a debut. He tried acting, and it worked, but only after years of small roles and waiting. That pattern, of trying, failing, and trying again, is a lesson for anyone who has faced a closed door. A closed door is not the end. It is a sign to try another door, and Ren Jialun tried many doors, until one opened.
His story also shows that a career does not have to be straight. It can turn, it can pause, it can go back, and it can still lead to success. Many young people feel that they must choose one path and stick to it, even if it does not fit. Ren Jialun shows that it is okay to change paths, to try something new, to learn from each try, and to keep going. That is a brave way to live, and it is a useful lesson for anyone who feels stuck.
He is still working, still choosing, and still growing. His recent dramas show a man who is comfortable with romantic roles, with historical stories, and with characters who have a past. That is a good place for an actor in his thirties to be. He is no longer the young athlete trying to find his way. He is a mature performer with a clear sense of what he can do, and he is using that sense to pick work that matters to him. The audience, in turn, has learned to trust his choices, because those choices have rarely been careless. He is still working, still choosing, and still growing. His recent dramas show a man who is comfortable with romantic roles, with historical stories, and with characters who have a past. That is a good place for an actor in his thirties to be. He is no longer the young athlete trying to find his way. He is a mature performer with a clear sense of what he can do, and he is using that sense to pick work that matters to him. The audience, in turn, has learned to trust his choices, because those choices have rarely been careless. What is often missed is how much his time in Korea taught him about stage presence. In Korea, idol trainees learn to perform for a camera that is very close, to smile, to dance, to sing, all at once, and to do it with a precision that is almost military. Ren Jialun learned that precision, and he brings it to his acting, in the way he stands, in the way he moves, in the way he holds a sword, with a control that comes from years of dance training far from home.
My Take:
I admire Ren Jialun because he tried again, and again, and again, and I think that is the most human thing a person can do. He was a table tennis player, and that did not work. He worked at an airport, and that was not his dream. He went to Korea, and that did not lead to a debut. He came back, he acted in small roles, he waited, and then he became a star. That is not a straight line. It is a winding road, with turns, with stops, with moments when he must have wondered if he would ever find his place. I think about those moments, and I feel respect for him, because it is easy to give up after one failure, and much harder to keep trying after three.
Table tennis taught him something I think about a lot. A table tennis player must stay calm when the ball comes fast, must think quickly, must move quickly, and must not panic. That is a good lesson for life, not only for sport. When life comes fast, when a dream fails, when a door closes, you must stay calm, think, move, and try again. Ren Jialun did that, and his acting shows it. He is calm on screen, even when his character is in danger, even when the story is sad. That calm comes from sport, from work, from life, and it is a strength that many actors do not have.
Under the Power is the drama that made me love his work, and I want to say why. Lu Yi is a cold officer, a man who follows rules, who does not show his feelings, and who slowly learns to love. That slow learning is beautiful to watch, because it is how real love often works. Real love does not arrive in a single moment. It grows, slowly, through small acts, through protection, through trust. Ren Jialun played that growth with a restraint that made me believe it. He did not shout his love. He showed it, in a look, in a gesture, in a decision to protect someone even when it was dangerous. That is a kind of love I understand, and it is a kind of acting I admire.
One and Only and Forever and Ever moved me in a different way, because they are about a love that lasts across lifetimes. Zhou Shengchen is a general who honours his word, even when it costs him everything, and that honour is both beautiful and tragic. I cried, in my own way, watching that story, because it asks a hard question: what is more important, love or duty? Ren Jialun played a man who chooses duty, and who pays for that choice, and he played it with a dignity that made me respect him, even as I wished he had chosen differently. That is the power of a good story. It makes you feel, even when you disagree, and Ren Jialun’s performance made me feel deeply.
I also admire his openness about his family. He married, he became a father, and he did not hide it. In an industry where many stars hide their marriages, his honesty is refreshing. It tells his fans that he values his real life as much as his screen life, and that he is not afraid to be a husband and a father in public. I respect that, because it is easy to hide, and hard to be open, especially when fame rewards a single image. He chose honesty, and his fans loved him for it, which shows that audiences value truth more than they value a perfect image.
I want to be honest about what I find limiting. Many of his dramas are romantic, and many of his characters are similar, princes, generals, officers, lovers, all handsome, all brave, all in love. I wonder if he will play a villain, a funny man, a modern worker, a person who is not a hero at all. I hope he does, because I think he has more to show, and because a star who only plays heroes will eventually bore himself. I do not blame him for playing the roles his fans love. I only hope that his next roles challenge him in a new way, because challenge is how an actor grows.
What can a reader learn from him? I think the first lesson is that failure is not the end. A closed door is a sign to try another door. The second lesson is that ordinary work matters. His airport years taught him what most people live through, and that understanding makes his acting more truthful. The third lesson is that love, in real life and on screen, grows slowly, through small acts, through protection, through trust. Do not rush love. Let it grow, as Lu Yi’s love grew, slowly, and truly.
I also think about young people who feel stuck, who have tried one path and failed, who wonder if they will ever find their place. I would tell them to look at Ren Jialun. He tried sport, he tried ordinary work, he tried Korea, he tried acting, and he kept going until he found his place. If you feel stuck, try another door. Try again. Keep going. That is not a guarantee of fame, but it is a guarantee of a life lived fully, and that is worth more than fame.
In the end, I see Ren Jialun as a man standing on a riverbank at night, looking at floating lanterns, calm, thoughtful, and alone with his thoughts. That image stays with me, because it is a picture of his whole life. He has tried many paths, he has faced many closed doors, and he has kept walking, until he found a river of light, a career, a family, a life. I hope his next steps take him to new roles, to new challenges, to new kinds of heroes, because he has earned the right to choose, and because I want to see what a man who has tried again and again can do when he is fully free. He has already shown that trying again works. Now I want to see where trying again takes him next.
I keep thinking about Qingdao, his home city, a port city on the sea, a place of wind, of waves, of ships, and I think about how a boy from a coastal city learned to play table tennis, a fast sport, a sport of quick thinking, of quick movement, of staying calm when the ball comes fast. That is a good training for life, not only for sport. When life comes fast, when a dream fails, when a door closes, you must stay calm, think, move, and try again. Ren Jialun did that, and his acting shows it. He is calm on screen, even when his character is in danger, even when the story is sad. That calm comes from sport, from work, from life, and it is a strength that many actors do not have, because they have not learned to stay calm under pressure in the way an athlete learns it.
The Glory of Tang Dynasty deserves more thought, because Li Chu is a prince who must survive in a dangerous court, who loves deeply, who fights for his place, and who learns to lead. That is a classic story, and Ren Jialun played it with a warmth and a seriousness that made viewers love him. He was not a perfect prince. He was a person who makes mistakes, who loves, who loses, who tries again. That humanity made the character believable, and it made the audience care for him, episode after episode. I think that is the heart of his acting. He does not play perfect heroes. He plays human heroes, men who try, who fail, who try again, and that trying is what makes them worth watching.
Under the Power is another drama that stays with me, because Lu Yi is a cold officer, a man who follows rules, who does not show his feelings, and who slowly learns to love. That slow learning is beautiful to watch, because it is how real love often works. Real love does not arrive in a single moment. It grows, slowly, through small acts, through protection, through trust. Ren Jialun played that growth with a restraint that made me believe it. He did not shout his love. He showed it, in a look, in a gesture, in a decision to protect someone even when it was dangerous. That is a kind of love I understand, and it is a kind of acting I admire, because it does not rely on words. It relies on truth, on a small act that says more than a long speech.
One and Only and Forever and Ever moved me in a different way, because they are about a love that lasts across lifetimes, a general who honours his word, even when it costs him everything, and a modern professor who finds his love again. That is a bold idea, and Ren Jialun played both roles with a dignity that made me respect him, even as I wished the general had chosen differently. That is the power of a good story. It makes you feel, even when you disagree, and Ren Jialun’s performance made me feel deeply, because he played honour as a real thing, not only as a word, a thing that costs, a thing that hurts, a thing that matters.
One more lesson, about ordinary work. His airport years taught him what most people live through every day, checking in passengers, handling luggage, working long hours, being polite even when tired. That experience is rare for a star, and it is valuable, because it gives a person a sense of what ordinary people live through, and that understanding makes his acting more truthful. When he plays a prince, an officer, a general, he brings to those roles a memory of ordinary work, of a job that is not glamorous, of a life that is not famous, and that memory keeps his performances grounded, even when the story is about palaces and swords. I think that grounding is one reason why his fans trust him. They see a man who has worked a normal job, who knows what normal life feels like, and who has not forgotten it, even after fame. One more thought stays with me, about the way he handles trying again. He tried table tennis, and it did not work. He worked at an airport, and that was not his dream. He went to Korea, and that did not lead to a debut. He came back, he acted in small roles, he waited, and then he became a star. That is not a straight line. It is a winding road, with turns, with stops, with moments when he must have wondered if he would ever find his place. I think about those moments, and I feel respect for him, because it is easy to give up after one failure, and much harder to keep trying after three. A closed door is not the end. It is a sign to try another door, and Ren Jialun tried many doors, until one opened, and that opening changed his life, not because he was lucky, but because he was ready, because he had learned from each failure, from sport, from work, from Korea, from small roles, and he brought all of that learning to his acting, to Li Chu, to Lu Yi, to Zhou Shengchen.
There is also a lesson in the way he is open about his family. He married, he became a father, and he did not hide it. In an industry where many stars hide their marriages, his honesty is refreshing. It tells his fans that he values his real life as much as his screen life, and that he is not afraid to be a husband and a father in public. I respect that, because it is easy to hide, and hard to be open, especially when fame rewards a single image. He chose honesty, and his fans loved him for it, which shows that audiences value truth more than they value a perfect image. A man who can be a prince on screen and a father at home, who can be a general in a drama and a husband in real life, is a man who understands that a role is not a life, and a life is not a role, and that both matter, in their own way, at their own time.
I want to talk about Under the Power, because it is the drama that made Ren Jialun a star for millions of viewers. He played Lu Yi, a cold and clever detective in the old capital, a man who is strict, proud, and funny in a dry way, and he played him opposite Tan Songyun, who brought warmth and humour to the story. The two of them made a pair that audiences loved, because one was ice and one was fire, and together they solved cases and slowly fell in love. I think what made Lu Yi work is that Ren Jialun did not play him as a perfect hero. He played him as a man who is sometimes wrong, sometimes stubborn, sometimes shy, and that made him feel human. A perfect hero is boring. A human hero is worth watching.
Then there is the double story of One and Only and Forever and Ever, and it is a clever idea that only a good actor can carry. In the first drama, he plays a general in ancient times who loves a woman he cannot marry, and the story ends in sadness. In the second drama, he plays a modern man who is the same soul in a new life, and the love gets a second chance. Playing two versions of one man, in two different centuries, asks the actor to show what stays the same and what changes. Ren Jialun did that with care, and fans loved both dramas, because the second one healed the pain of the first. I think that pair of dramas shows his range, and it shows that he can carry a love story that is both sad and hopeful.
His late start is the part that gives hope to ordinary people. He did not become famous at eighteen or twenty. He became famous at around twenty-eight, after years of failure, and that is late in an industry that loves young faces. He was a table tennis player first, and that did not lead to a career. He worked at an airport, checking in passengers and handling luggage, and that was not his dream. He went to Korea to train as an idol, and that did not lead to a debut. He came home, he acted in small roles, and he waited. Most people would have given up after so many closed doors. He did not. He kept trying, and when the door finally opened, he was ready, because all those years had taught him patience.
The airport years are worth thinking about, because they are rare for a star. Most famous actors have never done ordinary work. Ren Jialun has. He knows what it is to stand for long hours, to be polite when tired, to help strangers with heavy bags, to work a shift that nobody applauds. That experience is valuable, because it gives a person a sense of what ordinary people live through, and that understanding makes his acting more truthful. When he plays a tired officer, or a working man, or a person who is trying hard, he knows what tired really feels like. I think audiences can sense that truth, even if they do not know why.
He also married young, before he was famous, and he kept his family private, and I respect that choice. In an industry where many stars hide their marriages or delay them for fame, he was honest about his life, and he protected his wife and child from the noise. That honesty cost him some fans, because some fans do not like to hear that their favourite star is married, but it earned him respect from people who value a real life over a perfect image. In the end, what I take from Ren Jialun is simple. Trying again is not a sign of failure. It is a sign of life. He tried table tennis, he tried airport work, he tried Korea, he tried small roles, and each time the road closed, he found another road. That is how a real career is built, not in one lucky year, but in many small tries, over many years.
Frequently Asked Questions
When was Ren Jialun born and what sport did he play first?
Ren Jialun was born on 11 April 1989 in Qingdao, Shandong, China. As a boy he played table tennis seriously before an injury and competition ended that dream.
What jobs did Ren Jialun do before he became an actor?
After table tennis, he worked at an airport in Qingdao, and he later trained as a singer and dancer in South Korea. He returned to China and began acting in small roles.
What drama made Ren Jialun famous?
The Glory of Tang Dynasty in 2017 made him famous. He played Li Chu, a prince in the Tang dynasty who must survive court danger and protect the woman he loves.
Who did Ren Jialun play in Under the Power?
In Under the Power from 2019, he played Lu Yi, a cold and clever Ming dynasty officer who works with a female constable to solve cases and slowly falls in love with her.
What are One and Only and Forever and Ever?
They are two related dramas from 2021 telling one love story across two lifetimes. Ren Jialun plays Zhou Shengchen, a general in the first and a modern professor in the second.
Is Ren Jialun married?
Yes, he is married to his long-time partner and has a son. He has spoken openly about his family, which is unusual for a star of his level in China.
