If a person in China is hardened in the twists and turns of overcoming adversity to be happy and feel professionally fulfilled and, as a consequence, receive acceptance and social recognition, that is Jin Xing. Named this year’s fragrance ambassador I love of Dior in his country, with his popular talk show back to the small screen, and with a fame that crosses borders, there are plenty of arguments to think that Jin will be one of the most prominent figures of the Asian giant in 2022.

Jin Xing’s resume attracts attention for being the most diverse: she is a dancer, choreographer, presenter, judge of realities, businesswoman and actress; all professions in which he has had undisputed success. On a personal level, married and the mother of three adopted children, she is a woman who has fought against the current to achieve her fullest happiness. In the process, Jin has called for the tolerance of millions of people, many of whom, if it weren’t for the fact that they ended up captivated by her determination, charisma, and talent, would probably never have accepted a transsexual.

“If people pay attention to my work for what I am, that’s fine. If you question what your sexual condition is for me, too ”, he has commented on several occasions. Jin paved the thorny path of transsexuality in China in the mid-1990s and continues to be the most relevant trans person to this day. Often praised for being a pioneer, however, she has repeatedly rejected the role of LGTBI standard-bearer, sparking criticism from those who believe she should use her position to further pressure Beijing for the rights of the group.

But the visibility it has given to transsexuality in a country where the subject is still taboo is undeniable. Proof of this is that the French luxury brand Dior chose her in May to appear in its #DiorStandWithWomen campaign, a distinction she shared with supermodels such as Charlize Theron and Cara Delevigne, or actress Natalie Portman. In his promo video, Jin points out that the most important characteristic of a woman is independence.

The daughter of an army official and a translator, Jin was born in 1967 in the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang. With nine springs he entered the best dance academy in the country, the Popular Liberation Army. The path and ascent of that child prodigy forked: as a star member of the dance company, he studied Russian ballet, Chinese opera, dance and acrobatics; As a soldier, he excelled at firing machine guns and planting bombs under bridges.

At age 17 he won the national dance championship, an award that consolidated him as the best classical dancer in the country. At 19, she got a scholarship to hone her skills in New York, where she studied contemporary dance for four years. His success in the Big Apple was such a source of pride that the Chinese Army awarded him the distinction of colonel, although in practice he was not enlisted in its ranks.

The years that he worked abroad, first in New York and later in Rome and Brussels, also allowed him to investigate, prepare and wait for his long-awaited transition. “From the age of six I knew I was a woman,” she says. In international interviews he has reiterated that, although it would probably have been easier for him to have surgery in the US or Europe, he felt the call of his roots: “I wanted to be close to my mother, because the first life she gave me was in China. For this reason, my rebirth had to be there ”.

Venus, as her name is literally translated in Chinese into Spanish, became in 1995 the first person to undergo sex change surgery and make it public in the most populous nation on the planet and, therefore, to receive the approval of the Government. “I am not the first to change sex in China, but I am the only one to talk about it openly,” she proudly expresses.

That rebirth was accompanied by even more ambitious projects. In 1999, in Shanghai, he created China’s first private dance company (The Jin Xing Dance Theatre) and in 2013 he made the leap to television as a member of the jury of the program So You Think You Can Dance. His direct style, similar to that of Risto Mejide in Triumph operation, as well as her spontaneity in dealing with controversial issues, catapulted her to fame. She was expelled from a program on a regional network for being trans, but in 2015 she would return to the sets televisions to present their own interview space on another nationwide station.

This month it was announced that, due to the proven success it had until 2017 – with an audience that exceeded 100 million viewers weekly – the small screen will once again have the presence of Jin in the next almanac. The news of the upcoming premiere of The Jinxing Show 2022 has been enthusiastically received by the more than 13 million followers that the artist has on Weibo, the Chinese Twitter. “The most daring talk show on television, in which truths are thrown like darts” is designed, in the words of the presenter herself, “to surprise the public.”

Despite the fact that the door has been opened again, it is not surprising that some try to torpedo him once more. As paradoxical as it may seem given her track record of success, Jin Xing will have to grapple with new hurdles from now on, as the latest provisions from Chinese regulators have not come to make life easier for transgressors of the most outdated traditions like her. In September, a series of policies were passed calling for a boycott of “immoral” stars, “excessive entertainment,” as well as “mannered men” who do not follow “the correct beauty standards.” Under the new regulations, grills must avoid including shows featuring celebrities who have amassed a large amount of money through social media, gossip shows or, at some point in their careers, have spread “vulgar” messages. or opposed to Party policy.