Cheng Mai-hu

Cheng Mai-hu (程邁虎; born April 14, 1963) is a Tsengian singer and actor. Called the "Prince of Tsengian Rock", he is known for being the bassist for the band Belgian Flu and having a successful solo career. Cheng is one of the Tsengge Eight, a group of famous musicians that dominated Tsengge from the late-1980s, 1990s, and early-2000s.

Cheng is also an accomplished actor, winning the Spring Festival Film Awards and Tseng City Screen Award (the most famous film awards in Tseng) for Best Actor 2 times (4 in total).

Early life
Cheng Mai-hu was born on April 14, 1963 in Xida City (now a district of Hillsborough), Tseng City-Capital. His father, Cheng Heng-da (程恆達), was a singer, and, with approval of his mother, Cheng followed his father and started to learn how to sing. At age 14, Cheng got a guitar, a black Jackson Warrior, for Christmas, and learnt to play guitar.

Before he started his first band, Cheng worked a variety of odd jobs, such as a window cleaner, a lawn mower, and a waiter. Cheng joined the school band in 1978 when he enrolled in Hillsborough High School.

Musical
"See also: Cheng Mai-hu discography and Belgian Flu discography"

The Gobstoppers (1980)
In March 1980, he and several other band students formed a pop band called The Gobstoppers. The band never released any songs and only played covers of songs by bands like and  at clubs, talent shows, and competitions. Only 3 months later they disbanded.

Belgian Flu (1980-1985)
In September 1980, new student Alexander Yu arrived at Hillsborough High School and he and Cheng became friends. They decided to form a band. When Chris Xiang, fellow band student and former member of the Gobstoppers joined, the band now known as Belgian Flu was formed. After finishing his military service in 1983, he helped write songs for the famous 1984 album "Discombobulated".



Solo career (1985-present)
After Belgian Flu disbanded, Cheng became a solo artist. His first solo album, "Nightlight" (1987) was certified Gold after selling 40,000 copies. The 1988 song "Pain in Love" topped the charts not only in Tseng, but also in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and charted high in mainland China (Relations between Tseng and China were strain ed since the founding of the PRC). Cheng won the 2nd Golden Tune Award for Best Male Mandarin Singer in that year.

In 1994, he released the album Xin Chang Li Duan, which its title track became famous of it being the opening theme song of the TV series Laughing in the Wind.

From 1996-97, Cheng embarked on his first world tour. At the Tseng City leg on March 1, 1997, he was joined by former Belgian Flu members Jeremy Jia and Robert Mays.

Film
"See also: Cheng Mai-hu filmography"In 1983, Cheng was offered a role as an extra in the movie "Plum Blossom" (梅花). That was his first taste of acting. In 1992, he won his first acting award, the prized Spring Festival Film Award for Best Actor in his role of Dr. Koo, an evil psychotic doctor who tortures and hurts his patients in the movie "Escape" by Sam Hsiang. Cheng often played the role of a "strict boss or parent" such as in films like V. Khatri's "The School" (學校) and Jason Ling's 1995 "Floral Love Story" (花的愛情故事), of which he got a Tseng City Screen Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Personal life
Cheng was married to Carla Siu, a Hong Kong model and baker from 1984 to 2000. They had 2 children.

Cheng speaks fluent Mandarin, English, and Cantonese.