Xinyu's father, Mr. Huang Ke, worked for the Tenth Research Office of the Fushun Petroleum Chemical Industry Research Institute. Her mother, Ms. Zhong Yunxiu, was an English teacher at the Beisanjia Town Middle School.

On the night of April 24, 1999, upon learning that the Tianjin City police had arbitrarily detained Falun Gong practitioners, Mr. Huang and Ms. Zhong thought that they should help the government understand Falun Gong, so they both went to Beijing.

On July 21, 1999, Ms. Zhong and Mr. Huang went to Beijing to appeal to the government to stop the persecution. The following day, the state-run media began a massive anti-Falun Gong propaganda campaign and the Beijing police searched hotels for Falun Gong practitioners, arresting them at will. The couple was arrested and sent back to their hometown, but they were able escape. To prevent arrest again, they lived on the streets, constantly moving. At the end of September 1999, they were both arrested in the Jietaisi area of Beijing. Police escorted them back to Fushun City by train, and in an attempt to escape this illegal detention, Ms. Zhong jumped out of the train. She died from her injuries at the age of 26, when Xinyu was less than two years old. Xinyu misses her mother very much.

After Ms. Zhong died, the Fushun City Politics and Law Commission and the local police station frequently detained and tortured Xinyu’s father and sent him to brainwashing class because he refused to give up Falun Gong. Mr. Huang was also dismissed from his job. Xinyu lived in fear of losing her father too.

On the end of 2000, Mr. Huang saw the persecution escalating every day and decided to go to Beijing once again to appeal to the central government. He unfurled a banner reading, "Falun Dafa is good" in Tiananmen Square. The police arrested him and detained him in Fushun City. It was not until he was tortured to the brink of death that the police instructed his family to take him home.

On March 18, 2003, when he was painting "Falun Dafa is Good" on a wall, he was reported to the police. He was sentenced to seven years in prison. Mr. Huang went a hunger strike to protest the mistreatment; the prison guards then ordered criminals to force-feed him. After more than ten days of torture, Mr. Huang was again on the verge of death. The police released him to avoid responsibility for his possible death.

In late June 2003, police from the Guangming Police Station in Wanghua District of Fushun City arrested Mr. Huang again and detained him in the Fushun First Detention Center. He went on a hunger strike and suffered force-feeding several times. After ten days of torture, he died in police custody at 6:00 a.m. on July 3, 2003.
Xinyu could not accept that her father had died, and always looked for him. Now that her parents have passed away, she lives with her grandparents. It pains her heart to see that her classmates have parents to take care of them. She became a very quiet girl, and seldom talks to people.