BEIJING, Dec. 19-- Actress Zhang Ziyi has placed first on a list of the 50 "most beautiful people in China."

The fourth annual event was organized by The Beijing News, which announced the result in its Friday edition.

Zhang, who starred in the films "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "Memoirs of a Geisha," was first partly because she organized an overseas fund drive for survivors of the May 12 Sichuan earthquake while attending the Cannes Film Festival, said judge Hai Yan, a playwright and TV producer.

Hong Kong-based Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, a Cannes Film Festival best actor, came in second.

Olympics diving champion Guo Jingjing, martial arts star Jet Li and Li Yuchun, who made her name in a singing contest Super Girl, the Chinese version of American Idol, also made it into the top 50. 

Zhang Ziyi

Date of birth: February 9, 1979

Height: 1.64m

Zhang Ziyi is a famous Chinese actress.

She was born on Feb. 9, 1979, in Beijing and raised in an urban, working-class family.

When she was a little girl, her parents encouraged her to take up dance and gymnastics to build up her strength because she was too frail. She entered Xuanwu District Children's Palace to learn dancing and later was accepted to a secondary school affiliated with Beijing Dancing College.During the years she was trained in this school, she managed to win the Performance Prize at the 1994 Taoli Cup National Youth Dance Competition when she was about 15 years old.

Although a career in dance seemed promising for her, she became frustrated with the art and opted to become an actress instead.

She therefore enrolled in the Central Academy of Drama in Beijing, where she received her dramatic training. It was at this time that she made her first movie -- "Touching Starlight." Soon after, Ziyi got her big break.Ziyi auditioned for a shampoo commercial directed by Zhang Yimou (one of China's most renowned directors). The director of many successful films, including Raise the Red Lantern. Yimou used the commercial as a way to audition actresses for his upcoming film -- "The Road Home." He selected Ziyi from thousands of applicants to play Zhao Di, a rural schoolgirl in love with a schoolteacher. The Road Home won the Jury Grand Prix Silver Bear at the 2000 Berlin Film Festival.Ziyi was cast in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" after being recommended to director Ang Lee by Yimou. This film became one of the biggest hits of 2000 and earned a roaring 130 million U.S. dollars at the box office and four Academy Awards, among the long list of other awards it won.In 2001, she made her first appearance in an American movie -- "Rush Hour 2."

She rejoined great director Yimou of "Hero" and "The Road Home" to take the next step in martial arts films -- "House of Flying Daggers." This was Ziyi's biggest action role since "Crouching Tiger."But Ziyi is not just an action star, she has won praise for her performance in the romantic drama "2046" and she won China's most prestigious acting award for her role in "Jasmine Women."

She made her first major Hollywood role as a geisha in the film "Memoirs of a Geisha" directed by Rob Marshall, which is a love story. Though Memoirs as a film was not a critical success, Ziyi's performance won her numerous Best Actress nominations, from the Golden Globes, BAFTA, and Screen Actors Guild Awards, and others.