By Li Ming

Li Yugang is a male singer with the Central Opera-Ballet Theatre. Unlike all the other male singers with the prestigious troupe, Li can dress and sing like a woman. His latest success was his solo concert at Sidney Opera House on July 28, 2009. Dressed as a woman, his singing was sensational. The most thrilling moment came at his last song: he came back as a man and sang as a man.

The 31-year-old man comes from a poverty-stricken family in Jilin Province in northeastern China. His mother used to work as a stage artist of song-and-dance duet, a popular rural entertainment in northeastern China. Li had a very strong ability to imitate singers voices when he was just a boy. He was enrolled by Jilin Theater College in 1996, but he did not go to college, for his family was unable to afford the tuition. He left home and began to work toward his dream of becoming a singer.

His first job as a waiter was in a night club in Changchun, the capital of Jilin. The job gave him chances to be near career opportunities. In 1997 he learned from a friend that a night club in Xian, the capital of Shaanxi Province, was recruiting a few stand-by singers. He went for an audition and was hired. He sang when needed and worked as a waiter when not needed and got paid 40 yuan a day.

Lis breakthrough came in the summer of 1998. The country was being hit by heavy floods in the Yangtze River. A song about the national effort to combat the floods was popular. Li was partnered with a female singer to sing the song at the night club. One evening, his partner did not show up at the appointed time and the stage director was worried as there was no woman stand-by singer. The boss was about to cancel the item. To everybodys surprise, Li offered to sing his part and the womans part in the show. The boss was speechless for a few seconds and looked at Li. Then he agreed to let Li try.

That night was unforgettable for Li and many among the audience. Li was an overnight success. The audience went wild. Some even came up and stuffed generous tips into Lis hands. Lis pocketbook was filled with tips for the first time in his life time. The woman singer was later fired. Lis performance became a great attraction. Many people came just to hear him sing.

The success gave Li Yugang an idea to dress like a woman. He tried, but his first effort to look like a woman on the stage was a total failure. It took audience just a few seconds to decide it was abhorrence. They booed and threw things at him.

Li was not to be deterred. He knew he has the look and the voice, but he lacked expertise to properly dress himself and perform. He turned for help to Peking Opera, an opera in which men acted as girls in the peak years of the opera. He learned from masters and he began to undertake rigorous professional training. It was hard for him, for he was 23 years old and it was a torture to go through essentials designed for much younger bodies. He put in hard work. Meanwhile, he bought disks of A-list women singers and studied their performances.

He made it. He managed to look like a woman and move like a woman on the stage. In 2004 his performance as a woman became so popular that his shows were fully booked for six months. In 2005, he went on a European show with a Chinese show group. He was a big hit on the road.

Though he was successful, he knew he needed to conquer the nation through the most important media: television. Without success on television, he was at best described as a folk artist. In the summer of 2006, Li Yugang got a chance to appear in “Starlight Broadway”, a talent show on CCTV for those who badly need recognition and publicity. Li ran into strong opposition, however. His man-as-woman show caused controversy. Many at the television network were not impressed by his performance and thought his Peking Opera shows were an insult to the precious ancient art. Lang Kun, an experienced director at CCTV, watched his show and decided it was art worth being televised.

In his breakthrough performance at CCTV, he first sang a song as man and woman and then appeared as a woman. He was a sensation. The media agreed that the man was more woman than a woman. The appearance on television opened more doors for Li Yugang. He got more opportunities to work with A-list stars. The performances in the following years added a lot of glory to his resume. Shortly after the Spring Festival in 2009, the prestigious Central Opera-Ballet Theatre hired him, thus ending his 14-year free-lance status. The Central Opera-Ballet Theatre held a press conference to announce signing up Li Yugang. Many big stars came to congratulate him.□