The quiet dawn of September 11 was suddenly shattered by tragedy at the Sunshine Upper East residential compound in Beijing’s Chaoyang District.
At around 6 a.m., a local resident walking her dog stumbled upon a horrifying sight — the lifeless body of a young man lying on the pavement, surrounded by blood.
Moments later, she would learn that the man was none other than Yu Menglong, the 37-year-old actor and singer best known for his role as Bai Zhen in the hit fantasy drama Eternal Love.
The official statement from Yu Menglong Studio, released later that evening, confirmed the heartbreaking news:
“With immense sorrow, we announce the passing of actor Yu Menglong.
Police investigations have ruled out criminal factors.
We ask for privacy as the family grieves this profound loss.”
However, as details slowly surfaced from eyewitnesses and local media, the tragedy only deepened into mystery.
A QUIET MORNING TURNED TRAGIC
According to the Yangtze Evening News, the incident took place inside Building 5 of the Sunshine Upper East complex — a high-end community favored by actors and industry professionals for its privacy and security.
By the time reporters arrived at the scene later in the afternoon, the ground had already been cleaned and all police barricades removed.
Only one trace remained visible: a broken window screen high above, slightly bent and torn — the supposed point of fall.
“From below, we could still see the damage,” a reporter noted. “The glass window could be opened easily, but the outer safety screen was tough, not something that could be taken apart without tools.”
THE FIRST WITNESS
An elderly woman who lives in the same compound said her friend was walking a dog that morning when the animal began barking frantically near one of the garden paths.
“The dog smelled blood first,” she recalled. “Then my friend saw the man lying there. There was so much blood around him… he didn’t move.”
Within minutes, a young man dressed in white ran down from the building, covered the victim’s face with his shirt, and quietly said, “He’s my friend.”
But the man did not immediately call the police.
It was, in fact, the security guards who later contacted emergency services.
The area was quickly sealed off by around 6:30 a.m. and remained closed until 9 a.m., when authorities removed the body and began their investigation.
“At first, we didn’t know who he was,” the elderly resident continued. “It wasn’t until I saw the news online later that I realized — that young man was Yu Menglong! I’ve seen him before taking pictures with friends here. Such a handsome, polite boy… and all of them looked so cheerful that day.”
A PROMISING CAREER, A LIFE CUT SHORT
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Yu Menglong was a respected name in China’s entertainment industry. Born in Xinjiang in 1988, he grew up with his mother after his father’s early death.
He rose to fame not only as an actor but also as a singer and music video director, admired for his clean image and humble personality.
In recent years, he had been expanding his work — from performing on the variety show Shine! Super Brothers to collaborating with major studios on upcoming historical dramas.
Friends described him as “hardworking, kind, and deeply devoted to his mother.”
That devotion made his death even harder to believe.
DETAILS THAT RAISED QUESTIONS
According to early police findings, Yu had fallen from the fifth floor of the apartment building.
But several small details left many uneasy:
The apartment door was locked from the inside, raising doubts about how anyone could have entered or exited the room.
The safety window net — made of durable steel mesh — had been forcefully removed, something difficult to do by hand.
There were scratch marks on the window frame, as if someone had struggled before falling.
In Yu’s pocket were two Rolex watches that reportedly belonged to his friends.
Most notably, Yu was known to have a fear of heights — something he once joked about in interviews.
Moreover, sources close to the actor said he had a full shooting schedule the following week, including a taping with CCTV, China’s state broadcaster.
“He was excited about his new project,” one crew member said. “He never showed any signs of distress or depression.”
THE OFFICIAL STATEMENT — AND PUBLIC DOUBT
By noon, social media was already ablaze with speculation.
The official statement came at 6 p.m., stating simply that “criminal factors were ruled out.”
In other words — the authorities had classified the case as suicide within just 12 hours of discovering the body.
For many fans and observers, that conclusion came far too quickly.
“How can such a detailed case be closed so fast?” one netizen commented on Weibo before the post disappeared. “He had so much ahead of him — how could it end like this?”
Indeed, by the evening of September 11, nearly all trending topics related to Yu Menglong’s death had vanished from Weibo’s search bar.
THE SCENE CLEARED — BUT QUESTIONS REMAIN
When journalists returned later that afternoon, the site was almost unrecognizable.
There were no blood traces, no warning tape — only the faint outline where officers had marked evidence earlier.
Some residents, however, quietly expressed fear.
“Everything happened so quickly,” one woman whispered. “By the time we woke up, it was all over. But how could someone fall like that without a sound? We didn’t hear a scream, nothing. Just silence.”
Another resident described the sudden influx of police and emergency vehicles, saying, “They came, did their work fast, and then… gone. By lunchtime, it was like nothing ever happened.”
A COMMUNITY IN SHOCK
In the days that followed, the Sunshine Upper East compound became a place of quiet mourning.
Fans left flowers and candles near the building entrance before they, too, were discreetly removed by management.
One note, written in Mandarin, simply read:
“You were light. You deserved more than silence.”
While the police may have ruled out foul play, the public’s questions remain.
The details — the locked door, the removed net, the silence of witnesses — continue to haunt those who admired Yu Menglong’s gentle spirit.
For now, Beijing’s skyline remains unchanged, but something invisible has shifted within it — a lingering shadow over a city that has seen too many stars fade too soon.
A FAREWELL THAT FEELS UNFINISHED
As night falls over Chaoyang District, residents still glance up toward that fifth-floor window, wondering what truly happened behind it.
Was it despair, accident, or something more sinister?
No one knows for sure.
All that remains is the image of a talented actor, lying quietly under the morning sky — and a city that cleaned the blood too fast, before the truth had time to breathe.
Yu Menglong, 1988–2025.
A son, an artist, a soul gone too soon.
