First she was laid off from a dim sum factory before turning to working as food vendor to make a living, but now Liu Chunhui has turned to performing cross-talk into a recipe for success.

Lui, left, performs with her partner Pang Jun at a tea house in Tianjin Municipality on April 2, 2012. Out of her love for the stage started many years earlier, starting from 1998, she began to work part-time as a host of a cross-talk show at a local tea house, where she eventually became a successful female cross-talk show performer. Liu said she came into the profession at 34 years old, a late bird, so she had to practice much harder to master the art. She says she used to mutter shows during her sleep. Liu has never married and has no children, but still feels very accomplished bringing happiness to the crowd. [Photo/Xinhua]