1967

Born as a male to ethnic Korean parents, Jin Xing studied at a Korean elementary school.

1976

After showing promise as a dancer she joined the People's Liberation Army for dance training at 9 years old.

1987

She went to New York to study modern dance for four years.

1991

She won the Best Choreographer Award at an American Dance Festival for Half Dream.

1991-93

She taught dance in Rome, Italy.

1993

After a world tour, Jin returned to China at 26 years old and became a teacher at the National Choreography and Modern Dance Training workshops, commissioned by the Ministry of Culture.

1994

She resigned as a colonel from her Chinese military dance company.

1996

She set up Beijing Modern Dance Ensemble, the first modern dance troupe in the capital.

Jin underwent sex reassignment surgery and then went to Shanghai to choreograph and teach.

Jin finished one of her most celebrated pieces, The Imperial Concubine Has Been Drunk for Ages, based on a traditional Peking Opera. A pun in the title revolves around the word "jiu", which in the opera means "wine" but in the dance piece means "for a long time".

1998

She was given the Wen Hua Award, the first national award granted to contemporary art for her work Red and Black.

1999

She led her first ensemble, Jin Xing Dance Theater.

2002

In November, Jin and the British pianist Joanna MacGregor presented Cross Border-Crossing the Line, a multimedia production of dance, live music and video art representing the noise and chaos of post-industrial society.

Her film debut was in the Korean movie Resurrection of the Little Match Girl.

2003-04

Her dance, Shanghai Tango, which premiered in 2003 in Beijing and Shanghai, was performed in France to celebrate Sino-French Culture Year in January 2004. Performances were also held in France, Belgium, Germany and other European countries.

2005

She appeared in the Thai movie Tom-Yum-Goong, as the villain Madam Rose.

2006

She founded Shanghai Dance Festival, the first independent dance festival in China.

In November, she received an honorary doctorate from Dartington College of Arts in the United Kingdom.

Now

She adopted a son at 33 and now lives with her three adopted children and her German husband in Shanghai.