[2] Zhao is also known for his lead roles in the 2000 Zhang Yimou's film Happy Times and the 2007 Zhang Yang's film Getting Home, as well as having directed and produced three television series based around rural life in his home province, Liu Laogen, Ma Dashuai, and Xiangcun Aiqing ("Country Love").

[9] Zhao's most memorable performances have included "Yesterday, today and tomorrow" and "Fixing up the house" with Song Dandan, "Bainian" with Fan Wei and Gao Xiumin, a reprisal of "Yesterday, today, and tomorrow" with Song Dandan and Cui Yongyuan in 2006, and "Don't need money" in 2009 with Bi Fujian and Xiaoshenyang.

His performances have generally received critical acclaim, earning the 'top-grade' prize (一等奖) for the "skits" category for thirteen years in a row between 1999 and 2011.

[10] Zhao has appeared as an actor in many films, including Zhang Yimou's Happy Times (2000) where he played an aging bachelor who really wanted to get married.

[13] In 2008, the theme of this year's Spring Festival Gala was "Hand in Hand for the Olympics", and Zhao Benshan's skit "Torchbearer" expressed every Chinese person's expectation for the Olympics in CCTV CMG New Year's Gala.

[14] In 2009, Zhao was studying in the 4th intake CEO class at Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business.

[17] He was said to be in a stable condition after an operation, although close associates have mentioned that he often felt unwell in recent years when he is exhausted on the set.

[21] The Hall is located in the Qianmen area of Beijing, just south of Tiananmen Square and is immersed in part in building compounds with a history of some 280 years.

Ge Shuzhen worked a series of menial labour jobs after their divorce before becoming an entrepreneur.

[27] In 1992, Zhao married his second wife, Ma Lijuan (马丽娟), a Hui Chinese woman from Chifeng, Inner Mongolia.