She was voted China's first "Movie Queen" in 1933, and won the Best Actress Award at the 1960 Asian Film Festival for her performance in Rear Door.

[2] She spent much of her adolescence in northern cities including Beijing, Tianjin and Yingkou, and learned to speak perfect Mandarin, which later proved to be a great advantage when the cinema of China transitioned from silent films to talkies.

She played her first major role in the film Autumn Stirs Resentments (Qiu Shan Yuan), and fell in love with her co-star Lin Xuehuai.

[4] In 1926, Hu Die had her big break when she was signed by Tianyi (Unique) Film Company, one of the major studios of Shanghai, headed by Runje Shaw (Shao Zuiweng).

[4] In 1928, Hu Die declined to renew her contract with Tianyi, and signed with the rival Mingxing (Star) Film Company, led by the businessman and director Zhang Shichuan, and the writer Zheng Zhengqiu.

Compared with other silent-era film stars, who were mostly southerners with poor Mandarin, Hu Die made the transition to sound with ease.

[6][2] On 18 September 1931, Hu Die arrived in Tianjin en route to Beijing, where Mingxing was planning to shoot the film Marriage of Tears and Laughter, an adaptation of the novel by Zhang Henshui.

There was rumour that on the evening that the Japanese took Mukden, Marshal Zhang was dancing with Hu Die in Beijing, a serious charge which threatened to damage her reputation.

[5] Hu Die had to purchase space on Shen Bao, Shanghai's biggest newspaper, to dispel the rumour, which she believed was started by the Japanese media in order to discredit Zhang Xueliang.

[7][8][9] In February 1935, Hu Die was invited to join a Chinese delegation to participate in the Moscow International Film Festival in the Soviet Union.

[1] She arrived too late for the festival, but received a warm welcome, and her films Twin Sisters and Orchid in a Remote Valley (Konggu Lan) were shown in Moscow and Leningrad.

[6] From Moscow she went on to tour Germany, France, England, Switzerland and Italy, receiving significant public attention and VIP treatment from the Europeans, to whom Chinese film stars were novelties.

[10] As the Empire of Japan invaded and occupied Shanghai and much of east China, Hu Die and Pan Yousheng fled to British Hong Kong.

Pan Yousheng started a company making thermoses with the brand Butterfly, and she actively promoted her namesake product in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia.

[11] After her husband's death, Hu Die returned to the film industry in 1959, now taking roles as older women, which took her some time to adjust to.

It was said that in 1967 she married an admirer named Zhu Fangkun (or Song Kunfang), who had given her financial support in the difficult period following Pan Yousheng's death.

In 1966, Hu Yousong married Li Zongren, who had briefly served as president of the Republic of China, and was 49 years her senior.