Plunging into business
Always unique, Liu launched herself into business just as she hit the peak of her artistic career, becoming the first actress to take on the corporate world.
Starting in 1990, Liu set up her own company in real estate and spread her interests to the food industry, cosmetics, advertising and eventually film production.
"When I was on a plane and looking down at the landscape, I always felt that there was nothing in the world that I was not capable of," commented Liu on her business talents.
From property investments to directing television shows, Liu became very rich, and repeated her success story by making it onto Forbes' list of the 50 richest Chinese businesspeople in 1999 at the age of 45.
Her three autobiographical books My Road (1983)， My Eight Years (1992) and From A Movie Star to A Billionaire (1995) all topped the best-selling charts, according to China Daily.
"From being the first Chinese star, she became China's first female billionaire, and the change in Liu in a way reflects the change in Chinese society," reported Radio France International.
Reduced to a prisoner
However, the star did not always shine. According to China Daily, Liu fell from grace when she was arrested for tax evasion to the tune of 14.58 million yuan ($2.14 million) in 2002 and imprisoned for 422 days.
Many of her friends and relatives worried that she might not be able to get up after the fall, but the optimistic woman eventually surprised everyone by showing up again on the silver screen full of spirit after being released.
"Though four people were living in an 8-square-meter cell, I always closed my eyes and tried to imagine that I was in a forest with flowers blossoming everywhere. When eating poor food, I would fancy various delicious dishes. It was the imagination of a beautiful life that gave me the strength to live on," recalled Liu.
Her friends have said of her that she is a woman who always works hard and never gives up hope, no matter how bad things get.
Turning over a new leaf, Liu returned to her artistic career in 2004 in order to pay her heavy debts, and the scandals in her life only piqued further interest in her.
And though the makeup scarcely conceals the tell-tale crow's feet at the corner of her eyes and lips, the vicissitudes of life have clearly left their mark on the now 56-year-old actress.
Liu claimed that her life has been even more exciting than a movie, full of ups and downs, which can be best explained by her own famous line: "It's hard to be a human being, harder to be a woman, and much harder to be a famous woman."
