Bai Ling (meaning "White Spirit") was born in Chengdu, China, on October 10, 1970. Her father was a music teacher, and her mother was a dancer and stage actress, but she was primarily raised by her grandmother after Ling's parents ran afoul of Chinese authorities during the Cultural Revolution.
While Bai Ling sang in her school choir as a child, it wasn't until she turned 14 and became a "soldier" in the People's Liberation Army that she took to the stage; she was put in a performance troupe sent to entertain soldiers in Tibet for three years. Like her parents before her, Bai Ling clashed with authority, and she was accused of insubordination for using tobacco and more...
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