Dashan

Dashan (Chinese: 大山; pinyin: Dàshān; literally: "Big Mountain") is the Chinese stage name adopted by Canadian Mark Henry Rowswell, CM (born May 23, 1965 in Ottawa, Ontario) who works as a freelance performer in the People's Republic of China. Relatively unknown in the West, Dashan is the most famous Western personality in China's media industry, where he occupies a unique position as a foreign national who has become a bona fide domestic celebrity.

Dashan is best known for his mastery of Mandarin, and most of his media work is done in Chinese. He also spoke Cantonese, the first type of Chinese he ever learnt before Mandarin, in a Ford Commercial targeted at North American Chinese consumers.

History

Education

Rowswell attended high school at Nepean High School in Ottawa, Ontario. Rowswell began studying Chinese while attending the University of Toronto in 1984. His original Chinese name, as given by his Canadian Chinese-language teacher, was Lu Shiwei (路士伟) based on his surname Rowswell. Upon graduation from the University of Toronto with a bachelor of arts in Chinese studies in 1988, Rowswell was awarded a full scholarship to continue Chinese language studies at Peking University.