Tong Yao

On August 11, 1985, Tong was born in Kunming, Yunnan.
In 1996, she attended the Chinese Song and Dance Art School in Beijing. She returned to Kunming in the following year, when she was accepted to Kunming Art School. She spent a year studying Hulusi, which is a free reed wind instrument from China and the Shan State. She entered the Central Academy of Drama in 2002, majoring in acting.
In 2002, Tong made her television debut in Tracks In The Snowy Forest, playing a health worker in the Northeast Democratic United Army named Bai Ru.