Yi Ling (born 1928, Jiaxing, China), formerly known as Qian Jinfan, is the oldest known transgender person in China.[1] [2] [3] She started living as a woman at age 80, and had sex-reassignment surgery in 2010. Yi first came out publicly as a transgender woman in 2012.[1] [2] [4]
Yi works as a calligrapher and art critic, and was once a government official.[2] In 2009, she submitted a declaration letter to the Foshan Culture and Media Bureau, where she had worked before retiring; at that time she was starting to take hormones to enlarge her breasts, and to wear women's clothes.[1] [3] The government did not lower her pension or refuse to allow her to attend conferences.[3] In 2010 she wrote another letter to inform the authorities that she was a woman.[1] Yi Ling has a son, and has been married to a woman, Liang, since the age of 54.[1] [3]