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Celebrities

5 K-pop idols from China: from Exo’s Lay and Aespa’s Ningning to (G)I-dle’s Yuqi and NCT’s Winwin and Chenle – what cities do they come from and how did they find fame?

STORYLucy Jeong
Did you know that some of K-pop’s biggest groups have members from China, like Exo’s Lay, Aespa’s Ningning, NCT’s Winwin, (G)I-dle‘s Yuqi and NCT’s Chenle? Photos: @layzhang; @aespa_official; @wwiinn_7; @yuqisong.923; @chenlele_nct/Instagram
Did you know that some of K-pop’s biggest groups have members from China, like Exo’s Lay, Aespa’s Ningning, NCT’s Winwin, (G)I-dle‘s Yuqi and NCT’s Chenle? Photos: @layzhang; @aespa_official; @wwiinn_7; @yuqisong.923; @chenlele_nct/Instagram
K-pop idols

  • (G)I-dle’s Yuqi went to one of the most prestigious middle schools in Beijing – President Xi Jinping is an alum – but Super Junior inspired her to become an idol
  • Winwin gave a fake number to SM Entertainment’s casting manager and Aespa’s Ningning admitted she thought the agency’s offer was a scam at first too

Although the K in K-pop clearly stands for Korean, the industry isn’t shy when it comes to drawing from global talent – most notably, Blackpink’s Lisa hails from Thailand while NCT’s Mark Lee is Canadian.

Closer to home, there are also many Chinese K-pop idols in various famous groups, with naturally interesting casting stories to tell.

So let’s take a look at five currently active K-pop stars from China, who they were before hitting the big time – and how they got where they are today.

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