Across China: Actor in the dark

Celebrity actor Mu Huaipeng, 38, agrees that his life is as colorful as it could be, although he does not see any color. He is blind.

"Disabled as I am, the heart is my strongest organ," he told Xinhua in an interview before China's national day for the disabled on Sunday.

Mu, a sturdy man, always in sunglasses, always smiling, is best known for his role in the award-winning movie Blind Massage.

"We have too much to complain about," he said. "But in fact, life is full of positive energy for us to absorb and carry on."

Mu lost his sight at the age of five after an accident. He admits to having been depressed and angry at the time.

"My parents took me to many hospitals, and I was hurt each time," he recalled. "Isn't it cruel to hear someone saying 'your son is incurable' again and again?"

At that time his greatest fear was hearing his parents tell him they had found another doctor. In protest, he smashed his cup, sometimes three or four a day. Eventually his mom made him drink from a tin cup.

Gradually he became obsessed with the radio. He asked his dad about Xiangsheng, sometimes called crosstalk in English, a traditional form of comic monologue or dialogue, and his dad found him a teacher.

Xiangsheng lit up his life. Along with another artist, in 2010, he founded China's first crosstalk club for the blind, Wen Xiao Xuan, which literally means "where you hear laughter."

He also runs a massage clinic. His business card still reads "senior masseur."

In 2012 he went to an audition of blind actors and the footage was seen by Lou Ye, director of Blind Massage.

"The movie was a success and I soon became addicted to acting," Mu said.

In his latest film, he plays a conman, who cheats in gambling. "A conman with integrity," he added. "He finally dies protecting his apprentice."

He is still running the clinic, and having it expanded. "Traditional Chinese medicine is a treasure of our nation," he said. "Blind people have a better sense of touch and are important in handing down massage skills."

Mu is so optimistic that he has become a talk therapist for many of his clients who want to confide their troubles and ease their anxieties. Other clients tell him stories that he can't see with his own eyes. He often works the stories into his Xiangsheng routines.

Now there are about 20 performers in his Xiangsheng club, including his wife and 10-year-old daughter. His wife lives with amblyopia, and his daughter myopia, but this doesn't prevent them from being happy.

"Sometimes my daughter competes with me in saying tongue twisters," Mu said. She has a lot of confidence and once appeared in a televised Spring Festival gala from Tianjin.

According to the China Disabled Persons' Federation, the country is home to 85 million people with disabilities.

Mu, who can use a smart phone adeptly with Voiceover, told Xinhua that with the increase of barrier-free facilities, their lives are getting better.

"No fretting. No complaining. Relax," he said. "It is my hope that all the disabled people can, like me, live happily and 'blindly'." Endi