Next weekend, the inaugural Youshan Music Festival will kick off in a remote mountain area in Chongli, on the outskirts of Beijing. The lineup is stacked with talent and striking visuals, but one name has caught everyone by surprise: DaShanPao. Sound unfamiliar? That’s because it’s the DJ alias of none other than Huang Jue.
Yes, that Huang Jue — the award-winning actor known for his smoldering screen presence in arthouse darlings and cult indie flicks. Now in his 50s, Huang is proving that reinvention knows no age limit.
His story doesn’t follow the traditional arc. Originally from Guangxi Province, he enrolled in a local dance institute in his twenties. But after just a year, he bailed. “The school wasn’t really my vibe,” he’s said in interviews. So he packed his bags for Beijing in search of a paycheck, dancing at bars and taking on part-time gigs. Somewhere along the way, he met Zhou Xun—then also a fresh-faced hopeful—who introduced him to the acting world.
From there, things escalated. Huang gained traction in the indie film scene with roles in Baober’s Love and Long Day’s Journey Into Night by Bi Gan, which premiered at the 71st Cannes Film Festival. By 2020, he was a member of the Oscar judging panel, a credential he proudly displays in his Weibo bio: “A 93rd Academy Awards judge who walked the Prada Fall/Winter 2022 show.”
In recent years, he’s popped up in mainstream hits like the time-travel thriller Reset, and Wong Kar-wai’s lush TV drama Blossoms Shanghai. Off-screen, he’s gained a rep as “the best photographer in Hengdian”—China’s de facto Hollywood—snapping candid portraits of castmates and family members with a cinematic flair that screams auteur energy.
And now, there’s DJing.
In 2021, Huang co-founded SOLO Studio, an underground music label and creative hub based in Beijing. Under the name DaShanPao (which loosely translates to “Big Cannonball on the Mountain”), he’s been spinning at clubs across Beijing, Shanghai, and Chengdu. At Youshan, he’ll take the stage alongside an eclectic lineup, championing the growth of China’s experimental electronic music scene.
But don’t get it twisted—this isn’t some midlife crisis hobby. Huang’s taste for electronic sounds dates back to his early days in Beijing’s nightlife underbelly. He’s always been into the weird, the textured, the noncommercial. So if you’ve been side-eyeing your 20-something self for having too many side interests, maybe this is your sign: they might just come full circle in your fifties.
Cover Image via Zhihu.
