A role model for the ages

Wishing to breathe fresh air after his successful battle with nasopharynx cancer, Li moved to the area from downtown Beijing more than 10 years ago, when it was a much smaller community.

"Over recent decades, I prefer to wear badges symbolizing our country or the Party, which remind me to stick to my faith and always be a good man," says Li.

Born in 1954 in East China's Shandong province, in 1977 Li started work in the art troupe of People's Liberation Army Air Force. With his vivid incarnation of Lin Biao in the modern drama Jiu Yi San Shi Jian (The Sept 13 Incident) in 1980, Li won a Plum Performance Award, one of the country's highest stage show honors, earning him overnight popularity.

With the hit TV series Ke Wang (Yearning) in 1990, Li accumulated greater popularity, bagging the award for best supporting actor at the 11th Flying Apsaras Award and for best actor at the 9th China TV Golden Eagle Awards, both prestigious domestic honors in the television sector.