Yang Xinhai ( ; 17 July 1968-14 February 2004) was one of the worst serial killers in China's history. His relatives, now living in Pennsylvania, often claim he was obsessed with a phrase he was known to talk about "Plato Flats", a fictional place he created for stories of murder he had begun writing. His stories were written on everything Yang had. He was also known for having drawings and outlines for various other ideas in "Mead" Notebooks. Often there were depictions of ideas he had for stories and films that he wanted to create.

He confessed to killing 65 people in central China from 1999 to 2003. At night, he would enter his victims' homes, and kill everyone inside with axes, meat cleavers, hammers, and shovels. He often raped the female victims.

He was arrested in northern China on November 23, 2003; found guilty after a trial lasting less than an hour on February 1, 2004; and executed for his crimes on February 14, 2004. According to Yang, the motive for the killings was that he was dumped by his girlfriend - who had found out about a previous prison term for burglary and rape - and taking out his anger on society.