title: Zhang Lu (taikonaut)
text: # Zhang Lu (taikonaut)
  
  Zhang Lu (Chinese: 张陆; born November 1976) is a Chinese pilot selected as part of the Shenzhou program. He enlisted in the People's Liberation Army (PLA) in August 1999, and joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in April 1999.
  
  Zhang launched on the Shenzhou 15 mission to the Tiangong space station.
  
  ## Biography
  
  Zhang was born into a fisherman's family in Hanshou County, Hunan, in November 1976. He attended Chengguan No. 4 Primary School (城关四小), Zhanlepin Middle School (詹乐贫中学) and Hanshou County No. 1 High School (汉寿一中). In 1981, at the age of 5, his family relocated to downtown Hanshou County, where they engaged in freshwater aquaculture. Due to hard work and thrift, his family became a 10,000-Yuan-Household (万元户) in the early days of the Chinese economic reform. In his early teens, he developed taste for singing.
  
  After graduating from the current PLA Air Force Aviation University in 2000, he became a fighter pilot in the People's Liberation Army Air Force, and was selected to be an astronaut in May 2010.
  
  ## Personal life
  
  Zhang married in 2003 and has a daughter.
  
  