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Xiaocaqi (born January 24, 1999, in Yunnan Province) comes from a family that includes her aunt Yang Liping and her mother Yang Limei. As a child she stayed with her mother at her aunt’s home; after watching her aunt Yang Liping practice dance, she gradually developed an interest in dance. She began learning dance at age three under her aunt’s guidance and trained and performed with a dance troupe. By age four she had appeared in Yunnan Impressions (云南映象), performing a Tibetan dance and the “Lotus Waist” dance, becoming the youngest performer in the troupe. Her family hired a private tutor to teach her academic subjects so she could focus on developing professional skills.

In 2004 Xiaocaqi reappeared in Yunnan Impressions, demonstrating her dance talent and winning the audience’s affection; she was even called Yang Liping’s successor. In 2009 she performed a duet called “Hallucination” with Yang Liping in Guangzhou, showing her stage charm. In 2012, on Yang Liping’s recommendation, she made her film debut as the daughter in the Wang Song–directed film Bu Ou (怖偶), marking her official entry into the entertainment industry. She signed with Tangren Film Production Co., Ltd. in 2013.

Xiaocaqi’s early performing experience included many dance performances. Between 2009 and 2013 she starred in multiple works, including TV dramas and films. In 2014 she attracted widespread attention at the CCTV Spring Festival Gala for a spinning performance and was dubbed “the Spring Gala’s little spinning top,” which made her famous. In November 2014 she played the female lead Jingqiu in the stage play Under the Hawthorn Tree (山楂树之恋), and thereafter gradually expanded into film and television.

In 2016 she starred in the costume fantasy drama The Legend of the Qingqiu Fox (青丘狐传说) and the costume xianxia drama Chinese Paladin: Yun Zhi Fan (仙剑云之凡), demonstrating diverse acting abilities. In 2020 she participated in Tencent Video’s reality show Actors, Please Take Your Place (season 2). In 2023 she appeared in the National Theatre’s stage production Ji Zhou Yiyun (蓟州疑云), where she for the first time took on a gender-swapped role, portraying the character “Xiao Pubing” (小铺兵).

Academically, she was exceptionally admitted to the Beijing Dance Academy in May 2010 to pursue professional study. Her aunt Yang Liping is a famous dance artist and her mother Yang Limei is a painter. Raised in Yunnan with a family-based education, she developed a distinctive temperament and stage presence from an early age.