Jiang Wenli was born in a highbrow family. Her father was a railroad engineer, her mother was a railroad telephone operator, and her parents love literature and art. Since Wenli was a little girl, her father taught her to read famous book and painting, and listen to famous songs. When she was 5 years old, she dreamt about being a gymnast, so her mother sent her to study dance and gymnastics. However, since her stature didn’t fit the standard of a gymnast, the coach of Bengbu city gymnastic team refused to regard her as a formal team member. After that, she spent five years to practice as an informal team member of the gymnastic team. At the age of 17, she took the college entrance examination and regard going to normal university as her goal. However, she got accepted by a water conservation secondary school because her score was five points lower than the acceptance line of the normal university. In 1986, she graduated from the secondary school and starts to work in Bengbu City Water Company. Her job was to design ways of water transportation for residents. Nevertheless, she was not satisfied with her current life and decided to go to Beijing in 1988 and start her new life.