On August 16, Li Guoqing, founder of Dangdang.com, held his wedding ceremony, with notable attendees including Sohu founder Zhang Chaoyang and New Oriental Education & Technology founder Yu Minhong among other celebrities offering their congratulations.

Li Guoqing's newly wed wife, Zhang Danhong, was born in Beijing and graduated from Peking University. She is a German-Chinese journalist, freelance writer, and special researcher at the German Studies Center of Renmin University of China.

According to reports, Zhang Danhong and Li Guoqing are both Peking University alumni, and she was Li Guoqing's "white moonlight" from his youth. Li Guoqing had pursued her twice unsuccessfully in the past. Subsequently, Li Guoqing met Yu Yu and married her in a whirlwind romance.

However, Li Guoqing's marriage with Yu Yu did not last. The outside world first glimpsed their marital troubles in 2018. In December of that year, Li Guoqing posted comments on his personal Weibo about a certain incident. Shortly after Li Guoqing's statement, Dangdang's official Weibo condemned Li Guoqing, stating that he had already left the management and decision-making levels for some time, and demanded that he remove the Dangdang logo from his personal social media accounts.

Following a series of events including "smashing cups as signals" and "wearing official seals on belts," the couple eventually divorced. Li Guoqing obtained assets while Yu Yu gained control of Dangdang. Their property dispute attracted tremendous attention and was jokingly referred to by netizens as Dangdang's version of "Qingyu Year."

After the divorce, Li Guoqing plans to start fresh and actively expand into AI applications.

**Li Guoqing Wins His Beauty, The Two Had Missed Each Other Twice**

The internet song "Just When You Were Radiant That Year" expresses the sentiment of unrequited love that many people experience. Although he was an internet mogul, Li Guoqing in his youth failed to win over his "goddess."

According to Baidu Encyclopedia, both Li Guoqing and Zhang Danhong are Beijing natives. Li Guoqing is two years older than Zhang Danhong, but both graduated from Peking University in 1987. Although they were alumni, they studied different majors. In 1983, Li Guoqing entered Peking University's Department of Sociology with the top score, while Zhang Danhong studied German Language and Literature in the Department of Western Languages and Literature.

At the wedding ceremony on August 16, Li Guoqing and Zhang Danhong shared their long love story. At the time, Li Guoqing was immediately attracted to the beautiful and elegant Zhang Danhong, but despite several attempts, he failed to win her over.

Li Guoqing's failure to pursue Zhang Danhong was also influenced by the historical context. In the 1980s, there was a huge gap between China and Western developed countries, and many top university students aspired to study abroad. This was vividly depicted in the movie "American Dreams in China," based on New Oriental Education & Technology's entrepreneurial story, where the protagonist's good friend successfully went to the US while he was repeatedly denied visas and had to reluctantly stay as a university teacher.

Like many university students of that time, Zhang Danhong was determined to develop her career abroad and succeeded in doing so in the early 1990s.

In 1995, when Li Guoqing had achieved some success in his entrepreneurial ventures, he once again extended a romantic invitation to Zhang Danhong. "If you're willing to return to China and marry me, I'll first buy you a house (in Beijing's most expensive neighborhood at the time) and a good car (as betrothal gifts), which will count as your premarital assets."

Zhang Danhong reportedly became angry after hearing Li Guoqing's proposal: "How can you always talk about money?" Ultimately, the two missed each other for the second time.

The following year, Li Guoqing met Yu Yu and quickly married her. Zhang Danhong also married someone else and cultivated her own career. Zhang Danhong served as Deputy Director of Deutsche Welle's Chinese Department and Senior Editor of the Economics Department, working in international news for over 30 years. She published works such as "From Charlemagne to the Euro" and "Europe's Pain," accumulating rich cross-cultural communication experience.

Compared to her professional success, Zhang Danhong's first marriage was not smooth and ended in divorce. Li Guoqing and Yu Yu's marriage also came to an end. After half a lifetime apart, the two have returned to continue their destined relationship.

On June 18 this year, a wedding invitation for Li Guoqing and Zhang Danhong went viral on social media. "Thirty years of fame are dust and soil, eight thousand miles of clouds and moon. Two trains that missed their stops have finally arrived at the same platform in our sixtieth year. After treading through thorns, we finally see blooming flowers. We still believe in the beauty of love."

The invitation showed that the wedding was scheduled for August 16, 2025, in Beijing, with Li Guoqing as the groom and Zhang Danhong as the bride. On August 16, the wedding was held as scheduled, with Sohu founder Zhang Chaoyang, New Oriental Education & Technology founder Yu Minhong, and other celebrities attending to offer congratulations.

**"Qingyu Year" Divorce Battle Lasted Several Years, Li Guoqing Left with Money While Yu Yu Gained Sole Control of Dangdang**

The entrepreneurial story of Li Guoqing and his ex-wife Yu Yu was once considered a success story in the internet industry, even arousing Liu Qiangdong's envy.

Li Guoqing and Yu Yu met in 1995, when an American capital firm wanted to invest in Li Guoqing's publishing service company. Li Guoqing had just met Yu Yu, and she also met with potential investors. Later, the potential investor invited them to take a private jet to his estate in Mexico. Afterward, the two went to New York. One morning, Yu Yu dressed up Li Guoqing, and they went to New York City Hall to get their marriage certificate.

Li Guoqing revealed that the rings they exchanged during the certificate ceremony were also bought by Yu Yu, "and then I was married."

In November 1999, Li Guoqing and Yu Yu jointly founded Dangdang.com, pioneering online book sales in China. In the early days, the two had clear divisions of labor: Li Guoqing focused on business expansion while Yu Yu handled finance and management. Through their coordinated cooperation, Dangdang quickly became China's largest online book retail platform.

In December 2005, Dangdang won the title of "China Internet Industry Survey 'B2C Online Shopping' First Place and Top 50 China Internet Industry Brands." In 2009, according to iResearch's "B2C E-commerce Website Market Influence Assessment Research Report," Dangdang ranked first with a comprehensive score of 389, followed by Joyo.com with 380 and JD.com with 379.

In December 2010, Dangdang went public on the New York Stock Exchange. As China's first B2C online mall, Dangdang had a market value of $2.3 billion on its listing day, marking the peak of Li Guoqing's career.

At that time, Liu Qiangdong was very envious of their marriage, publicly stating: "I really envy Li Guoqing. He married a good wife, Yu Yu, who can help him raise financing, help him get the company listed, and take good care of the family."

However, after the peak, differences gradually emerged. Li Guoqing advocated for diversified expansion into comprehensive e-commerce, while Yu Yu insisted on focusing on the book business. In 2016, Dangdang completed privatization and delisting, with its market value shrinking from the peak of $2.3 billion to $530 million.

In 2018, the conflict between Li Guoqing and Yu Yu became public. In December of that year, Li Guoqing posted comments on his personal Weibo about an incident. Shortly after, Dangdang's official Weibo condemned Li Guoqing, stating that he had left the management and decision-making levels for some time and demanding that he remove the Dangdang logo from his personal social media accounts. Li Guoqing later publicly apologized for his inappropriate comments through Weibo.

In October 2019, during a program, Li Guoqing suddenly smashed a water cup in anger when talking about being "forced out" by his wife Yu Yu, causing widespread discussion. In the same month, Yu Yu publicly criticized Li Guoqing on social media, accusing him of lying and neglecting family, and revealing many explosive details about Li Guoqing's private life.

In April 2020, Dangdang witnessed a sensational "power struggle." Li Guoqing led four men to seize the company seal, unilaterally announced taking over the company, and listed Yu Yu's various "crimes," after which Yu Yu counterattacked.

At the end of 2023, Li Guoqing revealed during his participation in Guangdong TV's special program "Q&A from All Directions" that he had divorced and become single again.

On June 13 this year, Li Guoqing posted on Weibo: "Yu Yu and I dissolved our marriage in 2023. Recently, as a continuation of the divorce case, both parties have reached a final settlement regarding related property division."

According to Tianyancha information, on June 21, Li Guoqing completely withdrew from the shareholder ranks of Dangdang-related companies, while Yu Yu's shareholding ratio increased from 64.20% to 91.71%.

**Li Guoqing "Travels Light," Focuses on AI Applications**

In his public statement on June 13, 2025, Li Guoqing also stated: "I will travel light and actively expand into AI applications, witnessing together with everyone the integration of technology and humanities, exploring the symbiosis of public welfare and business."

In fact, Li Guoqing's interest in the AI field is not a sudden impulse. As early as 2019, his "Morning and Evening Reading" project already demonstrated the application of AI and big data technology. This project relies on artificial intelligence and big data technology for book selection, referencing "real and effective" bestseller lists, topic popularity rankings, content practicality, classic lists, content differentiation, customer needs, and other multi-faceted data. It has similar technical logic to WeChat Reading's "AI Book Q&A" function and Zhangyue's "Reading Love Chat" interactive applications.

This early exploration accumulated user behavior data processing experience and provided a foundation for his current entry into the AI field.

However, the challenges of cross-industry expansion are obvious. Li Guoqing's past experience in e-commerce and knowledge payment fields cannot be directly transferred to the AI field, and his available funds are vastly different from the industry leaders' investments of tens of billions. Whether domestic internet giants like ByteDance and Alibaba, or international tech giants like Google and Microsoft, all have invested heavily in AI and gained first-mover advantages.

However, Zhang Danhong's resources in international media circles might provide support for expanding into European markets and enhancing brand communication effectiveness. Li Guoqing's accumulated business experience and network resources in e-commerce and cultural fields, if effectively integrated into the new track, might help discover unique development opportunities in the AI field surrounded by giants.

Will Li Guoqing's exploration in the AI field succeed in the future? This remains to be seen through continued observation.