π¨π¨γ €WHO's this Chinese, opulent diva here? She seems to go by the name ... ZHIYU ? but her real name is YAN JIA ! that doesn't make sense ?!
nicknamed the ...
chameleon on handlebars
suzhou's juliet
mainland pearl
thousand-masked idol
china's first love
media mogul
and SO MUCH MORE!
... a Chinese singer, songwriter, composer and dancer. She is the lead dancer and sub vocalist of SEVENTEEN, a music group formed by South Korean-based entertainment company Pledis Entertainment in May 26, 2015. She is also a member of the group's Performance Team. She made her official solo debut with XTRAFAUNA on May 1, 2026. Born ι’δ½³ on March 21, 1999, in Singapore, Zhiyu is the youngest of three to a Chinese translator-interpreter mother, a Vietnamese-born Chinese diplomat father. Raised in a continuously shifting household, her formative years were marked by frequent international travel and the requirement to adapt to contradictory lifestyles and languages. Her mother's profession as a highly sought-after translator and interpreter enables her to comprehendβand eventually conveyβa variety of languages and dialects. Unlike her parents' government-related pursuits, she bore interest in performing arts. At the ripe age of 4, she started attending classical Chinese dance classes in her hometown, Suzhou. Her family opted to relocate to Wan Chai, Hong Kong due to her father's diplomatic imperative. There, she took up an offer and signed herself up to practice seriously in aerial silk. She underwent coaching for approximately three to four years before leaving for Japan, where she attended a private international school. Whilst maintaining her venerated academic profile, she joined a hip-hop club owned by her grandfather in Tokyo. She stayed for another four years and moved to New York for another four. She was relocated to live with her paternal aunt and uncle in Singapore, as it has been harder for her parents to devote time to take care of her and her siblings. Along the course of sixth grade, she discovered that her true avidity lies in the branch of dance. After graduating elementary school, she was to enroll in a conservatory when a Pledis Entertainment staff member approached her after her subsequent win in a dance competition in Beijing. She was successfully street-casted. She was qualified to become a trainee and spent four years training before debuting.
learn more about her ... because people can't get enough
among the languages she's learnt throughout her life, she is most comfortable speaking in english over mandarin, yet more comfortable speaking in mandarin over vietnamese.
despite her lean frame, she seems to showcase exceptional upper-body strength, enduring a significant amount of push-ups and pull-ups easily.
she lives in her own dorm.
her charming points are her big eyes and straight shoulders.
she is notorious for her fluid movements, excellent hip & chest isolations, and terrifyingly impressive facial expressions.
she has a maltese named douzi.
she has contributed to a significant portion of seventeen's choreography, admitting that her first independently choreographed song that made [it] to the final cut was fallin' flower.
ever since her early debut days, she had begun composing songs for the group and future solo releases. most of them, though, were archived and/or rejected by the company - though not cast aside. most of her productions were shared to other companies under her consent; prominent examples include ateez's work, nct jnjm's both sides, and mamamoo's dingga.
according to members, she is the hardest person to wake up.
her favorite makeup product is eyeshadow.
her favorite movies are oldboy, the matrix, and akira.
she has two older brothers born in 1994 and 1997.
she loves to sew and dance.
in 2023, pledis entertainment confirmed that she is in a relationship with fellow member mingyu since the winter of 2021.
she can play the piano and guzheng.
