Born in Chengdu in the Sichuan province, Yu moved to the Yunnan province as a child, where he played football at elementary school, and gained the nickname "Chengdu Ronaldo", after Portuguese international winger Cristiano Ronaldo, due to their similar styles of play.
[3] He returned to China in 2017, and re-joined the Chengdu FA, representing them in the 2017 National Games.
[7] The following year, he was called up to the under-17 side for the Huashan Cup, where he featured in a 1–0 loss to South Korea.
[8] He continued to be called up for the under-19 side, returning to his hometown of Chengdu for the 2017 Panda Cup, though China finished bottom of the four team group, having failed to win a game.
[9] As well as football, Yu takes an interest in acting, and in 2017 listed Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig, who both played James Bond, as two of his favourite actors.