10 things you should know about Taiwanese star Rainie Yang

Before she was Rainie Yang the soloist, as we know her today, she actually got started in the girl group 4 in Love. Other members were also named after meteorological phenomena, namely Sunnie, Cloudie and Windie. They debuted in 2000 but it was shortlived as they disbanded just two years later.

One reason for the disbandment was falling public interest and the other was due to the 921 earthquake that struck Taiwan in 1999. As a result of the natural disaster, the parent company behind 4 in Love's label withdrew their investment.

Most of us might remember Rainie Yang's appearance in the wildly popular Taiwanese drama Meteor Garden (2001) where she played Xiao You, the good friend of Shan Cai (played by Barbie Hsu). Fun fact: she was supposed to play Li Zhen before they swapped her to Xiao You.

Since taking on that role, Rainie Yang went on to carve out a niche for herself in the television and film industry with credits in productions such as Why Why Love (2007), Hi My Sweetheart (2009) and Life Plan A and B (2016) as well as multiple acting award nominations and wins. She also made inroads as a variety show host after hosting Guess (2002-2007).

After finding footing in the entertainment industry, Rainie Yang went on to release her debut Mandarin solo studio album in 2005 titled My Intuition. Since then, she went on to release 11 other studio albums, the last being in 2020 titled Like a Star. Like her acting, Rainie Yang has achieved multiple awards for her music and was even nominated for the prestigious Golden Melody Awards for Traces of Time in Love in 2017.

In 2020, Rainie Yang fell from a high stage on the first night of her Taipei concert. She fell early in the concert after the lights were dimmed after performing Bad Lady. Fortunately, she only had slight injuries to her hands and legs and went on to perform the rest of her subsequent shows without a hitch.

That wasn't her first work-related injury though. In 2008, Rainie Yang fell down the stairs while filming an action scene for the drama series Miss No Good. A spinal injury consequently forced her to be admitted.

After dating for four years, Rainie Yang and Chinese singer-songwriter Li Ronghao finally registered their marriage in September 2019. He had proposed a couple of months prior on his 34th birthday while they were travelling in Japan.

A year later, the two were forced to be separated during the Covid-19 pandemic as Li Ronghao was based in China while Rainie Yang was in Taiwan. They finally reunited in 2021 after 304 days apart as she went to China to participate in the reality show Sisters Who Make Waves 2.

Their relationship didn't start on a good note though. Li Ronghao was rumoured to be two-timing as he got together with Rainie Yang just a month after ending a four-year relationship with fellow Chinese celeb Lu Yao.

While they were both in high school, Rainie Yang was in a relationship with the late Alien Huang. They were together for three years before calling it quits. Nevertheless, the two remained close and it was especially devastating when she found out that he had passed in 2020 due to heart disease.

At a memorial concert, this was what Rainie Yang had to say about their relationship: "I think everyone present knows that Alien and I had a very pure love during high school. Due to his passing, people are now putting this relationship in the spotlight. I actually can’t say much because I’m scared that no matter what I say, people will want to think [of it] in a specific direction.

In this world, there are very few people who would know how rare it is when romantic love transforms into friendship, familial love, and kinship. So I don’t blame the people who don’t understand this. Alien won’t blame you all, too."

She supports LGBT rights

Play

7/10

In 2007, Rainie Yang played a lesbian in the movie Spider Lilies opposite Isabella Leong. This began rumours that questioned her sexuality, which we now know to be false.

In 2017, Rainie Yang showed her support against homophobia when she partook in the song We Are One. Linked above, the song was produced by Singaporean singer-songwriter Tanya Chua and included other big names A-Mei, Elva Hsia, A-Lin, Dee Hsu, Na Ying and Sandy Lam.

After years of being dogged by questions on whether she has had plastic surgery done, Rainie Yang took to her Instagram in May 2022 to clear the air. She shared multiple screengrabs from Meteor Garden against current photos of herself and stated that she hasn't had any work done, adding that "you can see that my nose is still very blunt."

"If I did I’d definitely not hesitate to share, but sadly I did not."

While appearing on the Chinese variety show The Journey of Poetic Soul (2022), Rainie Yang revealed that she "didn't eat a lot of seafood in Taiwan." She went on to say, "My family was struggling financially when I was younger. In fact, eating seafood is considered to be extravagant there."

Taiwanese netizens were unhappy with what she had shared. They went on to trawl through her social media to compile all the photos of her eating a variety of seafood in Taiwan. One of these meals was an omakase meal with Cyndi Wang that costs upwards of S$180.

In 2023, Rainie Yang was part of the cast for the Chinese variety show Great Dance Crew 2. After watching her performances, netizens went on to criticise Rainie Yang's expressions during the dance battles, with some describing them as "ugly" and "angry".

She later shot back at detractors on her Instagram Stories. "When participating in the Battle, one should have that required expression and form. Of course, this also depends on how compatible it is with the music, dance style and movements. Although I am not a professional dancer, you are even more of an amateur."