At the 1987 CCTV Spring Festival Gala, he sang the songs of “A Handful of Fire in Winter” and “Clouds from My Hometown,” while wearing a dazzling red jacket and showcasing dynamic dance moves.

The performance heralded a more vibrant cultural scene and provided a vibe of liberation to Chinese audiences who were experiencing the early stages of reform and opening up.

Despite later shifting his focus to Broadway musical performances in the US city of New York, his name endures.

The star’s recent return to the limelight has come via his portrayal of Emperor King Zhou, the final ruler of China’s ancient Shang Dynasty (1760 BC-1030 BC), in the blockbuster epic movie Creation of The Gods.

The film premiered on July 20 and has already amassed more than two billion yuan (US$275 million) at the Chinese box office.

Creation of The Gods draws inspiration from the mythical Chinese Feng Shen Trilogy, which portrays an era of legendary battles between humans, immortals and monsters, and is set during the decline of the Shang Dynasty.

Prior to Fei’s portrayal, the renowned tale had been adapted to film and television many times. The character of King Zhou was always depicted as a simple but cruel ruler who indulged in a life of extravagance.

However, Fei’s depiction has breathed new, heroic, life into the role as he brings masculine power and inner brilliance to King Zhou.

The film’s director, Wuershan, revealed that when casting, Fei was his first choice because of his impressive height of 191cm and attractive physique.

“He is a perfect match for the textual description of King Zhou in ancient Chinese literature, which portrays him as tall, extremely beautiful and extraordinarily strong,” said Wuershan.

To embody the image of a formidable warrior emperor with prowess on the battlefield, Fei dedicated a year-and-a-half to strict dietary control, muscle-building, physique enhancement, intensive training in equestrianism, martial arts and drumming, among other skills.

“I told the director that I hadn’t taken my clothes off when I was young, and now you want me to do it at the age of 60!” Fei joked.

Also, Fei’s distinctive pronunciation of Chinese lines has also captured him a new generation of fans.

His English-infused pronunciation blends with Chinese, creating a unique linguistic fusion that audiences humorously refer to as shang wu yin yu or “Business Yinglish.”

The phrase yin yu means English and “Yinglish” is the result of blending yin with English.

He replaces some Chinese words with English equivalents, such as pronouncing si zui, or capital crime, as “straight”, kan jian, or has seen as “can Jane”, ren, or people, as “run” and zhou, or state as “Joe”.

This has led some people online to mimic his style by creating lists of examples of Fei’s “Business Yinglish”.

Ni fuqin fan de keshi sizui which means your father committed a capital crime, becomes “Ni fuqin fun de keshi straight”. Another line, Ta ming ming shi xiang rui that means she is obviously auspicious, becomes “Ta mean mean shi xiang ray”.

Another Business Yinglish line in the movie is Ma kan jian shenme, shi ren jue ding de, or what the horse sees is determined by the rider, becomes “Ma can jane shenme, shi run jue ding de”.

And finally, Yin shang yong shi, ta ping ji zhou, or the brave warriors of Yin Shang conquered Ji state, becomes “In shang yong shi, ta ping ji joe”.

Acknowledging the trend, Fei has humorously referred to himself as the pioneer of “Business Yinglish,” saying: “It’s great that everyone is joining in the fun. As long as the director approves of my lines, I’m OK with it.”