Born and raised in Shanghai, China, Ning Hou earned his B.A. degree from the Shanghai Art Institute.  Hou arrived in the United States in 1983, at the age of 27, to pursue his career in art at the Academy of Art College, San Francisco, where he graduated with his MFA in 1986.

Although Hou maintains studios in other parts of the country, his primary residence is in Locke, (CA), a small historic town located along the Sacramento River Delta. Working in both Impressionist and Photorealist styles, the artist aims to capture Locke's people, produce, and "unique golden sunlight." Hou attributes the works of Rembrandt, Vermeer, Jackson Pollack and Picasso as major influences on his art.

Hou has had one-man museum exhibitions at the McHenry Museum, Modesto (CA) and at the Haggin Museum in Stockton, (CA), and has been represented by some of the finest galleries on the West coast, including the Maxwell Gallery and the Mendenhall Gallery.  In 2007 Hou was Artist-in-Residence at the University of the Pacific, Stockton (CA).  The University also hosted a retrospective exhibition of his paintings at the Reynolds Gallery.

Hou's oil paintings are bold, vibrant, and thickly layered with paint. He is painting larger and larger pieces, anywhere from 12 to 30 feet long, that can take up to two years to complete. "My goal is that through my paintings, others will see, hear, feel, and most importantly, live the beauty that makes up the natural world that we live in." His work is on permanent display at the Crocker Museum in Sacramento and at the Sacramento Convention Center.