In an interview with China News’ Xin Sheng segment on September 29, Li Yapeng offered a rare reflection on major turning points in his life as well as his personal experiences with love and relationships.
Asked how a husband and wife can maintain harmony in a marriage, Li Yapeng candidly replied, “Having been married twice, I don’t think I’m in a position to give anyone advice on this. But for me, if you love someone, you love them, and that alone is enough. Whether that person loves you back is another matter. If they do, that’s wonderful. If they don’t, then so be it.”
Li Yapeng compared marriage to charitable work, explaining that giving should not be based on the expectation of receiving something in return. When asked whether he would ever marry again, he gave a brief response: “Let fate decide.”
His remarks were described by many as showing “the clarity that comes after weathering many storms.” However, discussions on Weibo suggested that Li Yapeng’s two marriages ended for very different reasons, with some netizens characterizing them as the result of “disillusionment” and “financial difficulties,” respectively.
During the interview, Li Yapeng also made a rare revelation about the real reason he retired from acting. He said frankly, “I simply wasn’t that interested in acting anymore.”
According to Li Yapeng, the 2000 drama Laughing in the Wind became a massive sensation, and his portrayal of Linghu Chong turned him into an overnight star. At the height of the drama’s popularity, he attended an event at Quancheng Square in Jinan that reportedly attracted hundreds of thousands of people.
“It was originally supposed to be a daytime event, but it continued into the evening, so the organizers temporarily set up spotlights,” he recalled. “Do you know how dazzling those lights were when they shone directly into my eyes? I couldn’t see anyone in the audience. But the enormous waves of sound and people shouting my name came through incredibly clearly. I should have been extremely happy, but I wasn’t happy at all.”
Asked why he had felt that way, Li Yapeng explained, “I feel at ease when what I receive and what I give are balanced. But when I became an actor and then a star, what I received became so enormous that I felt I hadn’t actually contributed enough to deserve it. So when I faced all that adoration, I felt somewhat uneasy inside.”
Born in 1971, Li Yapeng became a major star in Chinese entertainment through dramas including The Legend of the Condor Heroes and Laughing in the Wind. Over the years, he was romantically linked to several well-known figures, including model-actress Ke Lan, Qu Ying, Zhou Xun, and Faye Wong. He married Faye Wong in 2005, and the couple divorced in 2013 after welcoming their daughter Li Yan. In 2022, he married actress Haiha Jinxi, with whom he had another daughter, Xia Xia. Li Yapeng and his second wife recently divorced.
Li Yapeng has now completely stepped away from the entertainment industry, focusing instead on livestream e-commerce to help repay his debts, operating a homestay business, and maintaining the Smile Angel charitable hospital. Following the end of his second marriage to Haiha Jinxi in late 2025, he has kept a low profile while calmly facing both financial and personal setbacks, saying that whatever comes next in his life will be left “to fate.”
Sources: Ngoisao