Hu with her husband Pan Yousheng [Photo provided to China Daily]

Hu's performances gained wide recognition after she portrayed real-life figures.

Her smooth transition to the sound era is partly attributed to her standard Mandarin, perfected during her frequent travels in childhood, and because of the comprehensive training she had received.

She was among the first students at the China Film School, the country's first actor training institution, opened in 1924.

"In addition to the acting class, students also learned film history and directing, photography, dancing, singing, makeup and practical skills, such as driving, horseback riding and swimming," Li says.

He says Hu often advised photographers on how to take her portraits, and she also corrected angles and lighting when she thought the photojournalists needed help.

Hu had a huge fan base thanks to several commercially successful films, and she also won respect for doing films that addressed national issues.

Her 1928 martial arts film, The Burning of the Red Lotus Temple, was such a huge box-office success that the film company produced 17 sequels in the following two years.

But besides doing commercially successful films, Hu also picked other subjects, like Raging Waves (1931), a film on the struggles of rural people.