YuanYuanFilms is back! From the Hong Kong 100 to Western States 100, our cameras have followed Xiang Fuzhao for three years. Over that time we got used to filming her crossing the finish line with the national flag raised high — and to filming her sitting on the curb after a race, ankle swollen like a bun, brushing it off with a quiet “it’s fine.”
Cold Open: A First-Time Guest in Front of the Lens
This time she wasn’t on the course and she wasn’t at an aid station — she was on the podcast couch. Away from the lens, she’s far more “alive” than we imagined.
Living Together in America
A big house at Lake Tahoe with paper-thin loft walls. A few Chinese runners sharing a home in the US — cooking, fighting jet lag, learning to put up with each other. All the material from that trip is here.
The Cost of Altitude
A week of training in Flagstaff, stepping outside the comfort zone. At 2,200 meters, you can’t sleep and you can’t run fast — but your body is quietly adapting. For an elite athlete, the daily grind is pushing yourself out of the comfort zone.
Sleep Is a Talent
An elite athlete’s secret to recovery — sleeping beats massage. For Xiang Fuzhao, sleep is both a gift and a discipline.
After Western States 100
Her ankle was swollen, and the American physio said just four words. Post-race recovery takes more craft than the finish-line moment itself.
Survival Rules on the Course
Food safety, and the rule that “water never leaves your hand” mid-race. On foreign courses, every single bite is paid for with experience.
The Rubber Band Theory
Pull too tight and it snaps; loose enough and it keeps its spring. Asked about the mental game of elite athletes, she didn’t reach for “willpower,” “pushing limits,” or “never give up” — she talked about a rubber band. One that breaks if you pull it too tight.
“Pull too tight and it snaps. Loose enough, and it keeps its spring.”
What a 51-Year-Old Champion Teaches Us
She also talked about Ludo — a 51-year-old who won Hardrock 100. “Age isn’t an excuse. Mindset is.” You could tell she was saying it to herself as much as to us.
A Word to the Young
Don’t rush. Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.
Big Announcement: A New Venture
Time for a new identity reveal: she co-founded 
, a platform promoting trail-running culture across Asia. From athlete to founder — this course is different from UTMB’s 174 kilometers: no finish line, no aid stations. But she’s running it all the same. Runners, check it out: gorunasia.com.
Single (No, Really) & the Dating-Market Jokes
Foreigners always assume she’s married — she’s never been. And yes, she jokes, her height doesn’t exactly dominate the dating market. The real Xiang Fuzhao is more relaxed than you’d think.
The Three-Year Promise
From the Hong Kong 100 to Western States 100, the cameras will keep running with her. Before writing this post, we went back and watched the footage we shot in Hong Kong three years ago. Not everyone can run a hundred miles. But everyone is on their own course — climbing mountains, swelling ankles, recovering in sleep, pulling the rubber band taut and letting it go. Xiang Fuzhao’s story isn’t about “how she made it.” It’s about “how she still finds a smile after all these years of running.”
This is what YuanYuanFilms has always wanted to capture. Not a champion. Just a person, after many years of running.