Liu Heng, a renowned Chinese writer and playwright, Vice Chairman of China Writers Association, editor-in chief of Beijing Literature, chairman and first-class writer of Beijing Writers Association, Vice Chairman of Beijing Federation of Literary and Art Circles. He was honored with the Lu Xun Literary Award and Beijing Literary Award for his short story Between You and Me, the Lao She Literary Award for his novel The Happy Life of Chatterbox Zhang Damin. The feature film Ju Dou, adapted from his novella Fuxi, Fuxi, was the first Chinese film nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Film. His novel Black Snow was made into a feature film and won the Silver Bear Award of Berlin International Film Festival. His major script writing credits include drama (The Wotou Guild Hall), opera (The Female Teacher in Mountain Village), TV and film: The Happy Life of Chatterbox Zhang Damin, The Story of Qiu Ju, Red Rose White Rose, The Knot, Assembly, Memoirs in China, The Flowers of War.

Travis Preston is Artistic Director of the CalArts Center for New Performance (CNP) and Dean of the CalArts School of Theater. He directs theater and opera throughout the world, and was awarded Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French Minister of Culture for "contributions to the arts in France and throughout the world." He directed the world premiere of Fantômas: Revenge of the Image at the Wuzhen Theatre Festival in China, as well as Sam Shepard 's Buried Child for the 40th anniversary season of the Hong K ong Repertory Theater. 

For CNP he directed the critically acclaimed Prometheus Bound at the Getty Villa, Gertrude Stein 's Brewsie and Willie , and the acclaimed production of Macbeth at REDCAT, which toured to the Almeida Theatre, London, and then Sydney and Adelaide.He has been Resident Director at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge and Associate Artist at the Yale Repertory Theatre and Center Stage, and Associate Director of the American Ibsen Theater. He is also a noted theatre educator, having taught at Yale, Harvard, Columbia, NYU, the National Theater School of Denmark, Indiana University, and Hong Kong Academy for the Performing Arts.

Zhou Xun, a Chinese actress and singer, has starred in movies including Suzhou River (2000), Baober In Love (2004), Perhaps Love (2005), The Banquet (2006), The Equation of Love and Death (2008), Painted Skin serials (2008, 2012), and The Message (2009); TV series including Palace of Desire (2000), Love Story in Shanghai (2000), Ripe Tangerines (2002), Red Sorghum (2014) and Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace (2018). Zhou has won China’s Best Actress honors from Golden Rooster Awards, Golden Horse Awards, Hong Kong Film Awards, Hundred Flowers Awards, Magnolia Awards, Golden Eagle Awards, as well as the French awards, Festival du Film de Paris. She was also cited by CNN as one of Asia’s 25 greatest actors of all time, and earned the French “Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres.”

Hu Ge, a Chinese actor, graduated from Shanghai Theatre Academy’s performing arts department. He has played many classic roles in various TV series and has won successively: Best Actor at the Magnolia Awards, the Most Popular Actor of China Golden Eagle TV Art Awards, and the Popular Actor Award of China Golden Eagle TV Art Festival. Since 2013, Hu has been on the theatre stage as the leading actor in Director Lai Shengchuan’s eight-hour epic play A Dream Like A Dream.

Kris Yao, Hon. FAIA

Founder/ Architect, KRIS YAO | ARTECH

Kris Yao, Hon. FAIA, founded KRIS YAO | ARTECH in Taipei in 1985 and established a Shanghai office in 2001. The firm currently employs more than 160 professionals, and is one of the most important architecture practices in the Asia-Pacific region.

Throughout his 30 years of practice, Mr. Yao has received numerous awards and recognitions, including the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the College of Environmental Design at the University of California at Berkeley in 2005, the “National Award for Arts” in 2007, and the Honorary Fellowship from the American Institute of Architects in 2014. Mr. Yao’s works have been widely published in international magazines, architectural journals, and many of his monographs, including the most recently published three-volume monograph KRIS YAO | ARTECH selected works 30x30 by UED, Beijing.

Mr. Yao’s portfolio demonstrates years of practices in commercial, hospitality, civic, transportation, spiritual, and educational design. His architecture integrates function with culture and history, presenting a unique approach that celebrates the spirit of the locality. The AIA recognize him as an architect who “demonstrates his humanity with the development of physical elements that hold true to human emotion and conditions, cultural and historical context, and a sense of scale and place. His architecture has a poetic nature, using his native eastern aesthetic and spirituality with a sense of natural light, interplay of surfaces and forms and executing all with a high level of innovation and professionalism.”

Xi Meijuan, Vice Chairman of China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and China Film Association. Graduated from Shanghai Theatre Academy, she is a State First-Class Actress, a Chinese film, television and stage performing artist. Her major works include the theatre productions China Dream, Horse, Romeo and Juliet, Those Left Behind, The Family, Beijing Fayuan Temple; feature films If I Were for Real, The Scientist Jiang Zhuying, A Tree, A Young Prisoner's Revenge, Under the Hawthorn Tree; and TV series Red Carnation, Love Between Generations, To Elderly with Love, HOT MOM!, Sister-in-Law. She has received numerous awards, including China Theatre Plum Blossom Performance Award, China Theatre Mandarin Award, Shanghai Magnolia Performance Award, China Film Golden Rooster Award, China Ornamental Column Award, China TV Flying Goddess Award, and China TV Golden Eagle Award.

Pu Cunxin, a State First-Class Actor, Chairman of China Theatre Association, President of Beijing People’s Art Theatre, Vice Chairman of China Film Association. Pu is the one of the most celebrated actors in China. He has played in over 40 film and TV productions, and been honored with the China TV Golden Eagle Award for Audience Favorite Actor for his TV drama, The Path of Glory, and China Ornamental Column Award for Best Actor for his film, A Bright Moon. He was highly acclaimed for his outstanding portrayal of characters in theatre productions: The Thunderstorm, The Teahouse, The Persuader, The Wotou Guild Hall. Beyond his professional life, his active participation in philanthropy includes being Goodwill Ambassador in the campaign against HIV/AIDS.