Lay Zhang (Zhang Yixing)
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40 free Lay Zhang (Zhang Yixing) trivia questions with answers — music quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
Zhang Yixing, known to most fans as Lay Zhang or simply Lay, has one of the most varied careers in Asian pop. He was a child performer in China, trained for years in South Korea, debuted in one of the biggest idol groups of his generation, and then built a second career at home as a solo singer, songwriter, actor and television regular. This quiz follows that whole journey. There are questions on his early years and his time with Exo, on his solo EPs and albums and the artists he has recorded with, and on the films, dramas and variety shows that made him a household name in China. Others cover his brand deals, his charity work and the moments that took him onto international stages. It is written for longtime Exo fans who want to test what they really know, and for newer listeners who want a quick tour of his story. Every answer comes with a short explanation, so you will pick up something new even on the questions you miss.
30 of 40 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which 2017 Stanley Tong action comedy paired Lay Zhang with Jackie Chan on a hunt for lost treasure?
Kung Fu Yoga
Kung Fu Yoga cast him as Xiaoguang, one of a team chasing India's lost Magadha treasure from a frozen lake to Dubai.
Q 02Which Cars 3 racer, Lightning McQueen's arrogant rookie rival, did Lay Zhang voice in the Chinese dub?
Jackson Storm
Jackson Storm, voiced by Armie Hammer in English, went to Lay Zhang for the 2017 Chinese release of the Pixar sequel.
Q 03Which Chinese zodiac animal, Lay Zhang's birth sign, names the lead single of his 2017 debut album?
Sheep
Sheep is the sign he has used throughout his solo career, and fans and media in China nicknamed him "little sheep".
Q 04Lay Zhang's stage name was inspired by Huaze Lei, a character in which 2001 Taiwanese television drama?
Meteor Garden
Meteor Garden, adapted from the Japanese manga Boys Over Flowers, launched its four male stars as the boy band F4.
Q 05Which South Korean agency managed Lay Zhang until a ten-year contract ended in 2022?
SM Entertainment
SM Entertainment's founder Lee Soo-man publicly congratulated him when he launched his own company in 2020, built around a similar trainee system.
Q 06Which American singer joined Lay Zhang and NCT 127 on the 2019 Michael Jackson tribute "Let's Shut Up & Dance"?
Jason Derulo
Jason Derulo fronted the single, which was first announced on August 29, 2018, the day Michael Jackson would have turned 60.
Q 07Which US music ceremony invited Lay Zhang as promotional ambassador in 2019, its only Chinese celebrity guest?
Grammy Awards
Grammy Awards organisers put him on the red carpet and in the audience for the live 61st ceremony on February 10, 2019.
Q 08Lay Zhang's 2022 song "Time to Shine" with Nick Young marked the 75th anniversary of which sports league?
NBA
The NBA tribute reached the Finals themselves, where its video played on the big screen at Chase Center before Game 2.
Q 09In which Chinese city was Lay Zhang born in October 1991 under the name Zhang Jiashuai?
Changsha
Changsha is the capital of Hunan, whose Communist Youth League made its home-grown star a publicity ambassador in July 2016.
Q 10As an ambassador for which Italian fashion house did Lay Zhang attend his first Met Gala in 2019?
Valentino
Valentino dressed him in a custom suit called "Time Traveller", designed by the house's creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli.
Q 11Lay Zhang debuted in Exo-M beside Xiumin, Chen, Luhan, Tao and which leader of the Chinese sub-unit?
Kris
Kris led Exo-M until May 2014, when he sued to end his contract. Luhan and Tao followed, leaving Lay Zhang as the group's only Chinese member.
Q 12With which debut single did Exo, with Lay Zhang in its Chinese sub-unit, officially launch on April 8, 2012?
Mama
Mama followed two prologue singles, What Is Love and History, and pre-debut showcases in Seoul and Beijing.
Q 13Which 2016 debut EP by Lay Zhang, six Mandarin tracks he helped write, topped South Korea's Gaon Album Chart?
Lose Control
Lose Control drew more than 200,000 pre-orders, and Lay Zhang translated its lyrics into English, Korean and Japanese himself.
Q 21Which 2018 hit film, the directorial debut of actor Huang Bo, featured Lay Zhang as the character Xiao Xing?
The Island
The Island reunited him with Huang Bo, an original castmate from his long-running variety show, and his performance drew acclaim.
Q 22Which company did Lay Zhang found in October 2020, with a trainee programme modelled on his own K-pop training?
Chromosome Entertainment
Chromosome Entertainment Group was announced on his birthday, October 7, and debuted its first artist, Le'v, in August 2023.
Q 23In his autobiography Standing Firm at 24, Lay Zhang says he mostly taught himself piano and which other instrument?
Guitar
Q 14Which Dragon TV variety show, often likened to Korea's Infinite Challenge, featured Lay Zhang from 2015?
Go Fighting!
Go Fighting! kept him through its sixth season in 2020, by which time he and Wang Xun were the only original cast members left.
Q 15Which 2016 drama, a prequel to The Lost Tomb, starred Lay Zhang and drew over 12 billion online views?
The Mystic Nine
The Mystic Nine made his character popular enough to earn a spin-off web film, Flowers Bloom in February, built around him alone.
Q 16Which 2018 iQiyi boy-group survival show had Lay Zhang as its presenter and lead mentor?
Idol Producer
Idol Producer picked its 100 trainees from 1,908 hopefuls at 87 agencies, and viewers voted nine of them into the new boy group Nine Percent.
Q 17In which 2023 crime thriller does Lay Zhang play a programmer trafficked overseas into an online-fraud factory?
No More Bets
No More Bets earned over $500 million, and Cambodia banned it for fear the story would scare off tourists and investors.
Q 18Lay Zhang's December 2019 single was written as a tribute to which relative, who had died earlier that year?
His grandmother
His grandmother also gives the song its title, and it closed the year in which he staged his first international concert tour.
Q 19Which DJ remixed a Lay Zhang single in 2018 and joined him as a mentor on the EDM talent show Rave Now?
Alan Walker
Alan Walker first shared a stage with him at a US festival that summer, and their reworked single came out on August 30.
Q 20Which American fashion label made Lay Zhang its first Chinese global spokesperson for underwear and jeans?
Calvin Klein
Calvin Klein was one of more than 50 brands he has fronted, a list that runs from luxury watches to Burger King and Pizza Hut.
Guitar and piano lessons were only a starting point, and the same book admits he struggled with anxiety when performing on stage.
Q 24At which music festival did Lay Zhang make his first solo appearance in the United States in 2018?
Lollapalooza
Lollapalooza came the same year his next album entered the Billboard 200 at number 21, then the highest placing for a Mandopop artist.
Q 25Which American singer co-wrote "Give Me a Chance", the pre-release single from Lay Zhang's 2018 album Namanana?
Bazzi
Bazzi co-wrote and co-composed the track for a 22-song album that pairs each of its Chinese songs with an English version.
Q 26Madame Tussauds unveiled a third wax figure of Lay Zhang in 2019 in which city, after Shanghai and Beijing?
Hong Kong
Hong Kong got the third figure, and he attended its unveiling there in person in February 2019.
Q 27Which Swiss watchmaker brought its ambassador Lay Zhang to the Watches and Wonders fair in Geneva in 2023?
Hublot
Hublot also took him to its headquarters factory the next day, where he tried the work of a professional watchmaker.
Q 28Which DJ featured Lay Zhang and will.i.am on "Love You More", a track from the 2020 album Neon Future IV?
Steve Aoki
Steve Aoki had already performed with him in Shanghai in January 2019, at a Samsung event that also featured ASAP Ferg.
Q 29On which Youku show did Lay Zhang become a team captain in 2020, alongside Wang Yibo and Wallace Chung?
Street Dance of China
Street Dance of China kept him on for its fourth season, when Han Geng and Henry Lau joined him and Wang Yibo as captains.
Q 30On which Chinese TV talent contest did Lay Zhang finish third in 2005, seven years before his pop debut?
Star Academy
Star Academy was not even his first screen credit, since he had played a boy called Huan Huan in a 1998 TV drama at the age of six.