From 'educated youth' to national treasure

The Chinese Dream | Pu Cunxin

One of China's best-known dramatic actors is the public face of a number of campaigns designed to promote everything from literacy to awareness of AIDS.

When Pu Cunxin walked into the theater canteen five minutes early for our lunchtime appointment, he immediately noticed that I had no tea to drink, so he asked the waiter to bring some and then poured it for me himself. He then apologized, saying he wouldn't be eating much because he wasn't hungry - he'd been for a jog that morning and had eaten some of the porridge he had prepared for his sick father.