text: Career Gao Yuanyuan was born in Beijing and graduated from China Institute of Industrial Relations. Gao entered the entertainment industry in 1996. Gao, unlike other mainland Chinese actresses, did not graduate from any drama academic institutions. Rather, she started acting in a television commercial for Meadow Gold ice-cream after being spotted on the street at Beijing's Wangfujing shopping district.
  Gao made her debut in the 1997 film Spicy Love Soup. Thereafter, she starred in Beijing Bicycle (2001), which won the Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival and romance film Spring Subway (2002). She rose to fame in 2003 for her role as Zhou Zhiruo in the television adaptation of Louis Cha's The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber.
  Gao made inroads into the international market with the film Shanghai Dreams (2005), directed by Wang Xiaoshuai, which won the Prix de Jury prize at the Cannes Film Festival. She was then picked by Jackie Chan to star in the action comedy movie Rob-B-Hood (2006). Chan has characterized Gao as having the "freshest look and chaste spirit no Hong Kong actress could approach".
  Gao next starred in the romance film Love in the City (2007) opposite Shawn Yue, where she plays a deaf-mute kindergarten teacher. Her performance won her the Newcomer Award at the 11th Golden Phoenix Awards.