A native of Beijing, Rongguang Yu had an early interest in opera, which would prove beneficial later on when he would make the leap into professional acting. As a boy, Yu began taking classes at the prestigious Peking Opera School, which is notable for being the same school where Chinese action star Jackie Chan also trained. Yu's acting career began in the late '80s, when he started landing roles in the Chinese action films, "Mu mien jia sha," "Hoi si shan lau," and "Daihao meizhoubao." His breakthrough role came in 1993 when he landed a part alongside one of China's most well known action stars, Donnie Yen, in "Iron Monkey." 1993 also saw Yu appearing in the Chinese action movies, "Supercop 2 "and "Swordsman III: The East is Red," both of which, like "Iron Monkey," were later released in the United States. After appearing in several more Chinese action movies throughout the remainder of the '90s, Yu was offered a small role as a guard in the 2000 American action comedy, "Shanghai Noon," which also starred Owen Wilson and Jackie Chan. In 2010 Yu reunited with Chan, playing the role of Master Li in the remake of "The Karate Kid."