Han Geng

Han Geng (born February 9, 1984) is a Chinese Mandopop singer and actor. Han studied dance and martial arts at a young age and is skilled in all of China's 56 ethnic traditional dances, as well as ballet and hip-hop. He started his career in 2001, when he was chosen by SM Entertainment (SME) to become a member of South Korean boy band, Super Junior, which debuted in 2005. He later became the leader of its sub-group, Super Junior-M, in 2008. On December 21, 2009, Han filed a lawsuit against SME to terminate his contract, citing that the 13-year contract was unlawful, overly restrictive, and unfair. His arguments include being forced to do things outside of his contract and being refused sick leave, which led to kidney illness. He has since returned to China to pursue a solo career. On September 27, 2011, Han Geng's departure from SM Entertainment was made official as both parties came to a mutual agreement. For his various contributions to the spread of Chinese culture, Han was chosen as a torch bearer for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, becoming the first boy band member in history to hold this role. He later also became an ambassador for the 2010 Shanghai Expo and the 2010 Asian Games. In late 2012, Han started to gain international attention and won the 2012 MTV Europe Music Awards' "Best Worldwide Act" and Nickelodeon's 2013 Kids' Choice Awards' "Favorite Asian Act". --- Han Geng is of ethnic Nanai descent from Northeast China, and was born in Mudanjiang, Heilongjiang, China. He attended Guang Hua Elementary School from 1990 to 1996. Han learned dance from a young age. At age 12, he was accepted into the dance department at the Central University for Nationalities in Beijing, and left his family and his hometown in the Northeastern part of China to pursue studies in dance. During his years at the university, he mastered all 56 types of traditional dances from China's 56 ethnic groups, received training in ballet and martial arts, and performed in many countries including the United States and Russia. In 1999, as a representative of the Nanai ethnic group, Han participated in China's anniversary parade. In December 2001, South Korea's biggest entertainment agency, SM Entertainment, went to China to hold the "H.O.T. CHINA" audition casting in Beijing, in hopes of finding new talents in the country. Han Geng, who was preparing for his graduation performance at the Central University for Nationalities, immediately caught the attention of the agency's talent scouts, and was invited to participate in the audition. At the time, Han was not very interested, as he had never heard of SME and had wanted to pursue a career in acting. One of his friends, however, was very interested and persuaded Han to accompany him to the audition. Although hesitant at first, Han agreed to audition with his friend. The competition rate was 3,000 to 1. After graduating in 2002, Han began to work briefly as an extra in short, low-budget Chinese films and performed at local events across the country to earn money for acting school. In late August 2002, Han was notified that he had been selected by SM Entertainment. Due to financial reasons, Han decided to take SME’s offer and was sent to South Korea in March 2003 to receive private lessons in singing, dancing, acting and Korean language as a trainee. By mid-2003, Han moved into dormitories, lived with other trainees who were under the same label, and began to receive intense training in hip hop and street dance. He started out as a Class C dancer (the lowest class for dancing), as he had zero knowledge in hip hop dance at the time, but in the short period of six months, he went straight to Class A, skipping Class B. At that time, there were only 3 people in Class A, including Han. --- On September 17, 2012, Han Geng was nominated for the MTV European Music Awards' Best Asia Act, ironically pitting him against his former group, Super Junior. On October 15, 2012, it was announced that he had won the Asian category and would be moving on to compete for the Best Asia and Pacific Act, which he later won as well. Han was then invited to the award ceremony in Frankfurt, Germany to compete for Best Worldwide Act against Rihanna, Dima Bilan, Ahmed Soultan, and Restart. On November 11, 2012, Han was announced as the winner of the MTV European Music Awards' Best Worldwide Act, earning him his first major international award. On March 24, 2013, Han attended Nickelodeon's 2013 Kids' Choice Awards at the Galen Center in Los Angeles, and won his second international award: Favorite Asian Act. Other contenders included South Korea's Psy, Malaysia's Shila Amzah, and the Phillippines' Sarah Geronimo.