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Zhang Ruonan is lighting up screens across China with her role in The First Frost (2025), but behind her growing fame is a powerful story rooted in family, village life, and quiet resilience.
Born in Yueqing, Wenzhou, Zhejiang on 14 November 1996, Zhang came from humble beginnings.
The eldest of four kids, she was raised in a small, traditional village.
Her name, 章若男 (Zhāng Ruònán), literally means "like a boy"—a name chosen by her grandparents, who had been expecting a grandson.
But fate had other plans, and this girl would soon flip their expectations on their heads.
Back then, showbiz was never part of the plan. Her family, especially her mum, felt that acting wasn’t a safe or respectable path.
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| Zhang Ruonan's Family |
They hoped she’d go for something more stable.
But Zhang had other ideas.
She was drawn to the camera from a young age and wasn’t afraid to chase that spark—even when it meant going against the grain.
Things started shifting in 2017, when a modelling photo she’d taken for Taobao got noticed by the team behind Cry Me a Sad River (2018).
Zhang Ruonan was cast as Gu Senxiang, a schoolgirl dealing with bullying.
Her natural acting stunned viewers, and more importantly, it made her family stop and rethink everything.
Despite her early wins, Zhang never lost sight of her roots.
While studying in Hangzhou, she picked up part-time gigs as a model to help her family financially.
Once her acting career took off, she poured much of her earnings into her home.
She bought a house for her parents and made sure her siblings had everything they needed for school.
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“I still haven’t got a place of my own,” she admitted on Send a Hundred Girls Home (2023), “My family comes first.”
It wasn’t said with drama, just honesty—like it was the most normal thing in the world.
Now, with The First Frost propelling her to new heights, the Zhang Ruonan household has a whole new energy.
Her once-hesitant mum is now her number one fan, proudly cheering her on from the sidelines.
They talk more, laugh more, and spend weekends together whenever Zhang gets a break from filming.
It’s not just the fame—her work ethic and sincerity have won fans too.
Beyond Cry Me a Sad River, Zhang’s picked up attention with shows like A Date with the Future (2023), Too Beautiful to Lie (2023), and now her most powerful role yet as journalist Wen Yifan in The First Frost.
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Her performance blends grit with warmth, much like her real-life self.
Through it all, Zhang keeps things grounded.
“Everything I do is for them,” she recently shared. “When they’re happy, I’m happy.”
No flash, no fuss—just a daughter who wanted to honour the people who raised her.
From a village girl with a “boy’s name” to a national star, Zhang’s story isn’t just about chasing dreams.
It’s about proving that love and family, when mixed with quiet determination, can lead to something extraordinary.