Mr. Yu Zhou

Yu Zhou (Epoch Times)

Status: Tortured to death

Gender: Male

Age: 42 (born in 1966 and died in February 2008)

City: Beijing

Former Workplace: Percussionist for the popular folk music ensemble “Xiaojuan and Residents of the Valley”

Date of Most Recent Arrest: Jan. 26, 2008

Date of Death: Feb. 6, 2008

Last Place Detained: Tongzhou District Detention Center

Known Acquaintances Overseas: Angel (Jie) Li, currently residing in Los Angeles; Marianne Lefebvre, Belgium.

Other information: Xu Na, Yu Zhou’s wife, remains in Beijing Women’s Prison. Xu has been sentenced to 8 years in prison since 2022 for practicing Falun Gong, and sentenced again to additional 1.5 years in prison since 2025.

Details:

Yu Zhou was a musical talent. He graduated with a degree in French Language from Beijing University and could speak a variety of languages. Fans adored Yu Zhou for his melodies and his humble, down-to-earth personality. His folk band frequently topped the charts, capturing the hearts of countless Chinese citizens. Although Yu Zhou had practiced Falun Gong for 13 years, his fame had granted him a certain degree of protection amidst the persecution. Yet with the government’s efforts to clean up Beijing ahead of the Olympics, Yu Zhou and his wife were arrested on Jan. 26, 2008 on their way home from a concert. He was taken to the Tongzhou District Detention Center.

Eleven days later, Yu’s family was told to go to the Qinghe Emergency Center. When they arrived, they found him already dead. Yu’s death was mourned in the Chinese blogosphere and reported in The London Times.

Yu Zhou’s family requests for an autopsy have been denied, and officials have refused to hand over Yu Zhou’s remains, which are believed to still be held at the Qinghe Emergency Center. Qinghe Emergency Center is located within walking distance of the Beijing Institute of Technology, set to host Olympic volleyball matches.

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