YeinJee's Asian Journal

Rain is one of Korea’s most popular pop stars. Rain is popular with his muscular figure and sizzling dance moves. Besides his successful music career, Rain has achieved decent results in acting as well.

Picture of Rain

Rain Profile

Name: Jung Ji-hoon, Rain
Korean name: 정지훈
Nickname: Bi (means rain in Korean; 비)
DOB: June 25, 1982
Birth place: Seoul, Korea
Height: 184cm
Blood type: O
Profession: Singer and actor

(Also known as Ji-hoon Jung, Pi, Jung Ji-hun, Jeong Ji-hun)

Rain Biography

Rain started his entertainment career in teenage with boyband Fanclub, but the group didn’t achieve good results and was disbanded.

Rain didn’t want to give up on his music career, and went for lots of auditions before being accepted as a trainee with JYP Entertainment. Rain worked as a backup dancer while learning the skills to become a pop star under the guidance of his singer-boss Park Jin-young.

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Kwon Boa is one of the most popular South Korean pop stars. Commonly known by her stage name BoA (Beat of Angel), she released albums in both Korean and Japanese.

Picture of Kwon BoA

Kwon Boa profile

Name: Kwon Boa
Korean name: 권보아
DOB: November 5, 1986
Birth place: Guri, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
Height: 160cm
Blood type: AB
Profession: Singer

(Also known as Boa Kwon, Kwon Bo-a, Gwon Boa)

Kwon Boa biography

BoA was discovered when she was 11 years old. Her brother went for an audition organized by SM Entertainment, a Korean entertainment agency, which was looking for younger talents instead. BoA brother was asked to introduce his younger siblings (if he has any) and BoA was introduced in the audition and caught SM’s interest.

After convincing BoA’s parents to allow BoA to pursue her childhood dream of becoming a singer; SM started grooming BoA in singing, dancing and foreign languages. BoA was once sent to Japan for her training.

BoA released her debut Korean album, “ID; Peace B” in 2000 and was noticed by Japan’s Avex Agency. She inked a record deal with Avex and released her debut Japanese album, “Listen to my Heart” in March 2002 with the collaboration of Avex-SM; she became the first ever foreigner to top the Japan Oricon chart with the album.

BoA’s career continues to prosper in both Korea and Japan, and becoming quite popular across Asia as well. She was named as the MTV Asia’s Most Influential Asian Artist in 2004; she was just 18 back then.

BoA is currently one of the most famous artists in both Korea and Japan, and she is just 21. It has been known that she is interested in acting as well; we could be seeing BoA on big screen besides her pop performances in near future.

Kwon Boa Related Websites

Avexnet (Japanese) ll Official Blog (Japanese) ll Kwon Boa Forum

Joe Cheng is popular Taiwanese actor and supermodel. He is famous with TV dramas like “The Rose” and “It Started with a Kiss” etc.

Picture of Joe Cheng

Joe Cheng Profile

Name: Cheng Yuan Chang, Joseph
Chinese name: 郑元畅 (鄭元暢)
Nickname: Xiao Zhong (小综)
DOB: June 19, 1982
Birth place: Taiwan
Height: 188cm
Blood type: O
Profession: Actor and model

(Also known as Zheng Yuan Chang)

Joe Cheng Biography

Joe started his entertainment career as a fashion and commercial model. He made his acting debut in 2003 TV drama “The Rose”, starring alongside Ella Chen and Jerry Huang. The drama was a big hit, and Joe became a popular actor in Taiwan since then.

Joe continued to star in numerous dramas while keeping his modelling job. He has mentioned that he won’t give up as a model because it’s where he started his entertainment career, and he hopes that he will do well in both acting and modelling.

2005 was another breakthrough year for Joe; he starred in Japanese manga adapted TV drama “It Started with a Kiss” (ISWAK) with Ariel Lin, which was a big hit across Asia… and Joe becomes an international star.

Joe and Ariel are currently filming the sequel for ISWAK.

Joe Cheng Related Websites

Official Website (Chinese) ll Joe Cheng Forum

Rainie Yang is popular Taiwanese artist; she is famous for both her acting and music career.

Picture of Rainie Yang

Rainie Yang Profile

Name: Yang Cheng Lin, Rainie
Chinese name: 杨丞琳 (楊丞琳)
DOB: June 4, 1984
Birth place: Taipei, Taiwan
Height: 162cm
Blood type: AB
Profession: Actress and singer

Rainie Yang Biography

Rainie started her entertainment career when she was 14, appearing in commercials in Hong Kong.

When she was 15 she went for an audition in Taiwan, and was selected to be a member of girls group “Fall In Love” along with another 3 girls. It was then that she got her stage name Rainie (previously Lily).

Fall In Love released 2 albums with decent success, before being disbanded in 2002 due to various reasons. Rainie was already quite famous on her own back then, after starring in popular TV drama “Meteor Garden” in 2001.

Rainie then starred in another hit drama “Tomorrow” in 2002, and gradually becoming an established actress. It was also in 2002 that she landed the hosting job in popular variety show “Guess, Guess, Guess”.

Rainie continues to star in various TV series, but she had to wait until 2005 for her next breakthrough, after starring in popular drama “Devil Beside You” with Mike He. The success of the drama also helps Rainie to re-launch her music career; she released her debut solo album “My Intuition” in September 2005 with great success.

Rainie released her 2nd album, “Meeting Love” in March 2006, which is again a hit.

Rainie starred in acclaimed movie “Spider Lilies” alongside Isabella Leong in 2007. The movie won an award in the Berlin Film Festival.

Rainie Yang Related Websites

Sony BMG (Chinese) l Rainie Yang Forum

Kwon Sang-woo is Korean actor and male-model. He is most famous for his role in TV drama “Stairway to Heaven”, and is often referred as one of the sexiest man in Korea.

Picture of Kwon Sang-woo

Kwon Sang-woo Profile

Name: Kwon Sang-woo
Korean name: 권상우
DOB: August 5, 1976
Birth place: Daejoon, Korea
Height: 183cm
Blood type: O
Profession: Actor and model

(Also known as Sang-woo Kwon, Kwon Sang-wu, Kwone Sang-woo, Gwon Sang-woo)

Kwon Sang-woo Biography

Kwon Sang-woo worked as a model before making his acting debut in 2001. He started with some small roles in various movies and TV dramas before making his breakthrough in 2003 with movie “My Tutor Friend” and TV drama “Into the Sun”.

Later that year he starred in TV drama “Stairway to Heaven”, alongside popular actress Choi Ji-woo. The drama was a superhit in Korea and across Asia; Kwon Sang-woo becomes one of the most well-known Korean stars outside of Korea.

Kwon Sang-woo continued to star in other movies and dramas like “Love So Divine”, “Sad Sonata” and “Yasu” etc. His latest projects are movie “Fate” (also known as “Destiny”) and TV drama “Bad Love” (or “Cruel Love”).

Kwon Sang-woo Related Websites

Kwon Sang-woo Forum ll Buy Kwon’s dramas & movies

Ariel Lin is popular Taiwanese actress, famous with TV dramas like “It Started with a Kiss” and “Fairy from Wonderland” etc.

Picture of Ariel Lin

Ariel Lin Profile

Name: Lin I Chen, Ariel
Chinese name: 林依晨
DOB: October 29, 1982
Birth place: Taiwan
Height: 160cm
Blood type: A
Profession: Actress

(Also known as Lin Yi Chen, Lin Yichen)

Ariel Lin Biography

Ariel Lin started acting in 2002, as the main actress in her debut drama “True Love”. She then starred in other dramas like “Secret Garden”, “Seventh Grade” and “Love Contract”, and gradually becoming a popular young actress in Taiwan.

Ariel’s breakthrough was in 2005 with TV drama “It Started with a Kiss” (ISWAK), co-starring Joe Cheng, which was a hit in Taiwan as well as other Asian region. Ariel has become increasingly popular in other Asian countries.

Ariel’s following series “Fairy from Wonderland” and “Tokyo Juliet” were quite popular as well. Her latest projects are the sequel for ISWAK (“They Kiss Again”) and “The Legend of Condor Heroes”.

Ariel also sang some theme songs for her dramas, but has not release any albums to date.

Ariel Lin Related Websites

Official Website (Chinese) ll Ariel Lin Forum ll Buy Ariel’s dramas

Li Yuchun is one of China’s most popular singers. She started her singing career after winning the nation-wide singing contest ‘Super Voice Girls’ in 2005.

Picture of Li Yuchun

Li Yuchun Profile

Name: Li Yuchun, Chris
Chinese name: 李宇春
DOB: March 10, 1984
Birth place: Chengdu, Sichuan, China
Height: 174cm
Blood type: A
Profession: Singer

(Also known as Yuchun Li, Chris Lee, Li Yu Chun)

Li Yuchun Biography

Chris Li Yuchun become a superstar China after winning the ‘Super Voice Girls’ singing competition in 2005. The finale of the reality-contest show (similar to ‘American Idol’) drew the largest audiences in China’s TV history, with the winner decided by nation-wide voting.

Shortly after her victory Yuchun was featured at Time Asia magazine as one of the Asia’s Heroes; her debut single “Sweetheart, I Love You” was also released not long after that.

Yuchun held her first solo concert in her hometown of Chengdu on March 10, 2006 (on her 22nd birthday). The amazing thing was that she hadn’t release a full album yet when she held the concert, but still managed to draw a huge crowd.

Yuchun released her debut album, “The Queen and the Dreams” in September 2006.

Yuchun remains as one of the most popular Chinese singers currently.

Li Yuchun Related Websites

Official Blog (Chinese) ll Li Yuchun Forum ll Buy Li’s albums

Crystal Liu Yifei is one of the fastest rising stars in China. She is set to make her Hollywood debut in 2008, starring in movie “The Forbidden Kingdom” alongside international action superstars Jackie Chan and Jet Li.

Picture of Crystal Liu

Crystal Liu Profile

Name: Liu Yifei, Crystal
Chinese name: 刘亦菲 (劉亦菲, 刘茜美子, 劉茜美子)
Birth name: An Feng (安风)
Nickname: Xixi (茜茜), Baozi (包子)
DOB: August 25, 1987
Birth place: Wuhan, China
Height: 170cm
Blood type: B
Profession: Actress and singer

(Also known as Yifei Liu, Liu Yi Fei, Liu Xi Meizi)

Crystal Liu Biography

Crystal was born in China, but moved to USA in 1998 with her mother (her parents divorced when she was 7). She came back to China when she was 15 to study at the prestigious Beijing Film Academy.

Shortly after her admittance to the academy, Crystal was offered her debut role in TV drama “The Story of a Noble Family”. Her performance in the drama gained some notice and soon landed her role in another drama, “Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils”, which established her as a rising star in China.

Crystal starred in a couple of movies in 2004 (”The Love Winner” and “Love of May”), and also in popular TV drama “The Legend of Sword and Fairy” (also known as “Chinese Paladin”).

Her major breakthrough came in 2006 with her leading role in TV drama “The Return of the Condor Heroes” which makes her a superstar in Asia region.

Subsequent with her fame she also inked a record deal and released her debut album, “Mayonaka no Door” (oddly enough, a Japanese album) in July 2006. She released her first Chinese album in September 2006.

Crystal has finished filming Forbidden Kingdom (also known as “King of Kungfu) in late 2007. The movie is scheduled to release in April 2008 and could possibly boost her fame in Hollywood… another Zhang Ziyi in making perhaps?

Crystal Liu Related Websites

Crystal Liu Forum ll Buy Crystal’s dramas & movies ll Buy Crystal’s albums