Fang Yu was born 1953 in the city of Xian, China. After finishing school he had to work from 1970 to 1973 for “ideologic re-education” during China’s great Cultural Revolution. From 1978 to 1982 he studied German language in Beijing, until 1990 he studied dramatics, German language and literature in Cologne and Berlin. Since 1991 he has been working as a freelance actor and translator.