Liyuan Peng

Peng Liyuan (Chinese: 彭丽媛; pinyin: Péng Lìyuán; born 20 November 1962) is a Chinese soprano and contemporary folk singer and the spouse of Xi Jinping, current General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and President of the People's Republic of China.

Peng gained popularity as a singer from her regular appearances on the annual CCTV New Year's Gala, a widely viewed Chinese television program that airs during the Chinese New Year. She won honors in singing competitions nationwide. Her most famous singles include《父老乡亲》("People from Our Village"),《珠穆朗玛》("Zhumulangma"), and《在希望的田野上》("In the Field of Hope"). Peng also sang the theme songs of several popular TV series, such as The Water Margin (1998). She also starred in musical productions. In 1986, she received the Plum Blossom Award, China's highest theatrical award, for her lead role in The White Haired Girl. She was the president of then People's Liberation Army Academy of Art between 2012 and 2017, and vice president of the All-China Youth Federation between 2005 and 2010. Peng was a civilian member of the People's Liberation Army and held the civilian rank equivalent to Major General before she was appointed the Art Academy's dean, upon which she was given the formal rank.She is known within China for her fashion sense, credited to her personal couturier Ma Ke. In 2014, Peng was listed as the 57th Most Powerful Woman in the World by Forbes. Peng Liyuan was born in Yuncheng County, Shandong Province, China. She is the daughter of Peng Longkun, an official in charge of cultural affairs who was branded a "counter-revolutionary" during the Cultural Revolution because some of his relatives had served in the Taiwanese army.Peng joined the People's Liberation Army in 1980, when she was 18 years old, as an ordinary soldier. She first performed nationally and came to fame during the earliest rendition of the CCTV New Year's Gala in 1982, when she performed On the Plains of Hope.Shortly after the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre, Peng sang for the troops. A photo of Peng, wearing a green military uniform, singing to helmeted and rifle-bearing troops seated in Tiananmen Square was censored from China's Internet. The image was from the back cover of a 1989 issue of the People's Liberation Army Pictorial, a publicly available military magazine.For the greater part of her relationship with Xi, Peng has enjoyed a positive reputation within China. Her husband became the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party in November 2012 and President of the People's Republic of China in March 2013. She is actively involved in politics and is a member of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. She has been a WHO Goodwill Ambassador for tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS since 2011.On 20 November 2014, Massey University in New Zealand conferred upon Peng an Honorary Doctorate in recognition of her "international contributions to the performing arts and health and education programmes". In 2016, she was named UNESCO Special Envoy for the Promotion of Girls' and Women's Education. Peng sang in a song-and-dance number in 2007 shown on Chinese television that featured Tibetans thanking the Chinese military for "liberating" them. On 6 December 2017, Juilliard School, a private performing arts conservatory in New York City, also conferred Peng an Honorary Doctorate at the China Conservatory of Music in Beijing, in recognition of her accomplishment as an outstanding artist, and also for her contribution to cultural exchanges between China and the United States.