Tao Hong (actress, born 1972)
| Tao Hong | |||||||||||||
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| Chinese name | |||||||||||||
| Pinyin | Táo Hóng (Mandarin) | ||||||||||||
| Born |
January 15, 1972 Wuxi, Jiangsu, China |
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| Spouse(s) | Xu Zheng (m. 2002) | ||||||||||||
| Children | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Alma mater | Central Academy of Drama | ||||||||||||
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Awards
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| National team |
 China
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| Height | 164 cm (5 ft 5 in) |
| Weight | 50 kg (110 lb) |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Swimming |
| Strokes | Synchronized swimming |
| Club | Beijing Synchronized Swimming Team (1984–1994) |
Tao Hong (born January 15, 1972) is a Chinese actress and former synchronised swimmer. A National Games of China champion, Tao was part of the Chinese national team at several synchronised swimming competitions from 1987 to 1991, including the 1991 World Aquatics Championships.
As an actress, Tao has received wide acclaim for films like Colors of the Blind (1997) and Forgetting to Know You (2013), though she is better known for hit TV dramas like Sunny Piggy (2000), Nothing in the Mirror (2002), Chuncao (2007) and The Red (2014). Internationally, Tao is probably best known for her small role in the Academy Award-winning film The Red Violin (1998).
Tao Hong began practicing with the Beijing Synchronized Swimming Team in 1983 when she was 11. In 1984, she officially made the team. She made the national team for the first time in 1987.
At the 1991 World Aquatics Championships, China finished 6th, which would remain China's best finish at the event until 2007. Although a member of the national team, Tao missed both the 1988 and the 1992 Olympics, since she was slightly weaker than her teammates Tan Min, Guan Zewen, and Wang Xiaojie at solo and duet competitions, and team competition did not become an Olympic event until 1996 after she retired to pursue acting.
In August 1993, Jiang Wen, who had been preparing for his directorial debut In the Heat of the Sun, went to the Beijing Synchronized Swimming Team looking for a good swimmer for his female lead. Even though Tao did not remotely fit the physical description of the role, Jiang liked her smile so much that he invited her to his set for a supporting role. The film was a big hit, and at the suggestion of Jiang, she retired from the Beijing club and applied to 3 professional acting schools: Central Academy of Drama, Beijing Film Academy and Shanghai Theatre Academy, all highly prestigious and selective. She was accepted to all 3 and chose Central Academy of Drama. She was the class president and became the first student in school history (along with classmate Duan Yihong) to receive a perfect grade.
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