Xia Yu was born on 28 October 1976 in Qingdao, Shandong Province. His father was once an actor and then became a painter. Xia was initially discovered by Jiang Wen who cast him in his semi-autobiographical film In the Heat of the Sun (1994). Despite being chosen partly because of his facial resemblance to a young Jiang, Xia's performance as a spirited and moving performance of a renegade youth in the film conquered audiences. He was rocketed to international stardom after he won the Best Actor award from the Venice Film Festival (the youngest actor to win that award in the history of the festival), Singapore International Film Festival and Golden Horse Awards.

For more information press link below:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xia_Yu_(actor)