Cai Liu was born in 1958 in the Province of Hunan, China. The oldest son of a farming family, Cai shared a lot of the work responsibilities within the family, but from an early age was fond of drawing and painting. Surrounded by elegant landscapes of mountains and rivers, which was abundant with birds and other wildlife, Cai delighted in recreating his environment through painting.

Pursuing his artistic passion, in 1972 Cai became an apprentice of the Hunan Opera Group working on stage art and settings design. From there, he entered the Department of Stage Art Design at the Shanghai Theatrical University in 1980.

His hard work and great talent has paid off as Cai has become the Chief Stage Designer for the Hunan Peking Opera Group. He has many prestigious awards in set and stage design and his painting are collected widely.