Hani Kyzy (哈妮克孜)

Hani Kyzy shot to fame in 2018 with a single breathtaking performance. Appearing on the iQiyi talent show The National Style Youth (Guofeng Meishaonian), she performed a Dunhuang‑style dance called A Dream of Dunhuang (Yi Meng Dunhuang). Dressed as a flying apsara (飞天), her ethereal beauty and graceful movements immediately went viral. Within days, she was hailed as the “Fairy Who Stepped Out of the Dunhuang Murals” and her Douyin followers exploded from 60,000 to nearly half a million in just one week. She was quickly dubbed one of the “Four Beauties of Xinjiang” alongside Dilraba and Gulinazha, cementing her status as an overnight sensation.

Breakthrough Role Hani‘s breakthrough was not a film or television drama, but the dance performance A Dream of Dunhuang on The National Style Youth. Choreographed to blend traditional Dunhuang culture with ethnic and modern dance elements, the piece featured her in a flowing celestial costume with golden lighting that evoked the murals of the Mogao Caves. Although she was eliminated in the second round of the competition, that one performance became her calling card. It opened doors to major stages including Zhejiang Satellite TV‘s 2019 New Year‘s Eve concert, CCTV‘s 2019 New Year‘s Gala, and Hunan TV‘s Spring Festival Gala. The exposure launched her acting career, leading to roles in films such as Soul Snatcher (Chi Hu Shu Sheng) and dramas including The Lost Tomb 2: The Ultimate Note (Zhong Ji Bi Ji), The Legend of Zu 2 (Tian Wu Ji), and The Blooms at Ruyi Pavilion (Yu Lou Chun).

Public Perception Hani Kyzy currently occupies a complicated and somewhat bittersweet space in the Chinese entertainment industry. She is widely admired for her striking ethnic beauty, dance background, and growing acting credentials—she earned praise from directors including Er Dongsheng and actor Liu Tao for her “strong sense of belief” on the performance show Infinite Challenge (Wuxian Chaoyue Ban) in 2025. However, her career has also been shadowed by persistent challenges. Some viewers have criticized her acting as uneven, and she has faced backlash over what some perceive as excessive marketing of her looks. More seriously, she has been plagued by damaging rumors, including the notorious “Candle Gate” scandal in 2020 in which she was falsely accused of an inappropriate relationship with her then-boss, actor Chen He—allegations she has strongly denied. In 2025, she made headlines again after tearfully revealing on Infinite Challenge that she had been recast from a major drama simply because she visited the set wearing glasses, with producers deeming her “not good-looking enough” in private. Despite these setbacks, she has continued to work steadily, with recent credits including the 2025 drama The Unbound (Wu You Du) and the 2026 series Heart‘s Mistake (Xin Jian Cuo). As one commentator observed: “Hani Kyzy might not be standing at the very top of the pyramid, but she is an indispensable part of the mosaic—she has held onto her own style, and held onto the Dunhuang dream that captivated so many”.