Born in Beijing in 1934, Ma Ji spent his childhood in a poor family. He once got an apprenticeship at a weaving mill and later tried his hand at being a salesperson in a Xinhua Bookstore.

He was such a big fan of cross-talk, or xiangsheng, that he spent nearly every weekend and holiday in the theatre, watching performances by Hou Baolin, Guo Qiru and other well-known performers.

His professional career began in 1956 when he joined the Central Broadcasting Troupe. Hou Baolin was assigned to be his first teacher.

Ma learned four dialects, which he used to perform various kinds of local comic dialogues. He also learned to imitate different sounds, like the sound of a trumpet and the sound of hawking.

In the early 1960s, he took part in 104 performances in rural areas in Shandong Province and gained a great deal of performing experience.

From 1983, Ma hosted CCTV's Spring Festival variety show, one of the most popular TV programmes in China. Today, his son Ma Dong is a CCTV host.

He was also a cross-talk performer in a variety show. He performed nearly 10 skits, including the well-known "Universal-brand Cigarette" and "New Idioms" skits.

Ma had many students including Feng Gong, Jiang Kun and Huang Hong, three of China's most popular cross-talkers.

He performed in Singapore in 1989 and recorded a 25-part cross-talk TV series there.

Ma also put great emphasis on theoretical research into xiangsheng to make his creations more socially relevant. His books include "Selected Xiangsheng by Ma Ji" and "An Informal Discussion of the Art of Xiangsheng."

(China Daily December 21, 2006)