Xia Qing Zi Takes Talents to Las Vegas

A version of this feature appears in the February issue of AVN magazine. Click here for the digital edition. LOS ANGELES—Xia Qing Zi achieved fame in her home country of Taiwan during the past four years, but now she wants to be known worldwide. “I want to be famous all over the world,” Xia told AVN on January 5 during the 2023 AVN Adult Entertainment Expo. Speaking through her interpreter Yuana Yang at the Model Media Group booth on the AVN Expo show floor in Las Vegas, Xia Qing Zi told AVN that her company is “like my mother.” “It’s our company culture,” she said. “Our company is the business manager, the boss, and they are all so friendly and they’re very warm. “And the boss of our company knows the situation of my family and says, ‘We will always support you forever.’” Xia seems well on her way to global recognition. She was named “Teacher Qing Zi” by all the actors, staff and fans in addition to being declared the No. 1 actress on Model Media Group's flagship site, ModelTV, at the AVN pre-trip press conference on Dec. 21, 2022. “This is the biggest recognition of my work attitude and achievements,” Qing Zi said. “I also received a message from the company at the end of last year that my past works had passed the selection process and would soon be available in Europe and the US, and that my work was the only one from the company that had successfully passed the preliminary screening by Japanese film distributors and was in the review stage. “For Chinese-speaking AV, European, American AV and Japanese AV are our forerunners. And it is a very meaningful milestone for my career to have my work pass the selection process and enter the international market.” Xia estimates she has performed in more than 200 movies since her debut, but her experience attending the world’s largest adult entertainment convention was different than anything she’s ever done. “It’s totally new for me,” said Xia, who noted that her name means “sunny summer” in Mandarin. “This is the first time to see everyone wearing so sexy clothes. Asian people, we don’t do that. “This is my first time in USA—I love USA. I want to live here forever but my family is in Taiwan so I can’t.” Xia Qing Zi works exclusively for Model Media Group in Taiwan, where the company launched in 2019. Now prominent in China, Taiwan and Japan, Model Media Group made aggressive moves in the U.S. market in 2022, traveling to the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo for the first time with the momentum of its first-ever nominations for the 40th annual AVN Awards. The company announced their AVN nominations at a major press conference two weeks before the AVN Show in Taipei, Taiwan, where Model Media Manager Alex Tsang touted the company's U.S. accolades in front of a large Taiwanese media contingent that included TV, print and online outlets. Model Media Group in 2022 launched POV Adventure to go along with its sister banners Jerkaoke and Delphine Films, shooting top U.S. talent in dozens of scenes in the process. Taiwanese star Xia Qing Zi told AVN the most memorable part of her first AVN was without the question the world renowned AVN Awards Show on Saturday, January 7. “The most unforgettable part was the night of the awards ceremony, seeing everyone in stunning costumes, cheering for the finalists and winners and being thrilled with the glory of the winners, which we have never experienced in Asia,” Xia said. “Chinese AV is still in its infancy, and I hope that one day I will be able to step on such a stage and receive my share of the glory.” Xia, who is from Hsinchu in northwestern Taiwan, said fans in her home country are very respectful of her. “My fans are so friendly because even if they recognize me, if they saw I am with my friend or my family, they will not talk to me. I really appreciate that,” she explained. Before she started her porn career, Xia sold insurance. “Actually I don't like my job as much as I did in the past,” she admitted. “We spend a lot of time and effort to instill the concept to most of the customers who are not aware of insurance. Although it's a pleasure to help people, being an insurance salesperson is a lot of work and besides signing contracts, 90 percent of the time is spent doing free services.” She also took care of her ailing mother before adult, helping her recover from a major car accident. “It was the most tiring and painful time of my life!” Xia said. “Because my mom was temporarily incapacitated, I had to be on call 24 hours a day. In addition to the emotions of my mom, I also had to take time to handle the charges against the perpetrators. “But having worked as a salesperson, I was able to communicate and express myself more smoothly and I was able to see things from a different point of view, which helps me a lot in interpreting my role as an actor now.” She continued, “The experience of taking care of my mother has made me even more determined that I want to continue on the path of an actor! Although adult film acting is not yet accepted and recognized by the Chinese culture, being an actor gives me the courage and perseverance to continue to do what I love and feel fulfilled. And to have the financial means to protect the quality of life of my family.” Xia revealed that her favorite part of performing is the variety. “I like to challenge different scripts and then use my work to impress the audiences,” Xia said. “Because of the cultural differences, most of our plays focus on the ‘drama’ part, and we can even see crying scenes. “In addition to the eroticism, we also reveal to the audience the philosophy of the industry and the actors' journey through the work. I am proud of the fact that we are able to resonate with the audience.” If Xia could offer any advice to a new adult performer trying to establish herself, she would explain that there is more to the job than having sex and getting paid.“We must always keep the mindset of learning and wanting to improve,” Xia said. “Sex is an innate human ability, and anyone can come and shoot it as long as they have the courage. But as professional actors, if we want to be stable in this industry, we should pay attention to ‘acting’! "Acting is not about faking orgasms. It’s about learning how to naturally convey the eroticism of a character from scratch, and how to make your performance resonate with the audience (the most preliminary, of course, is to make the audience excited and want to have sex). “We need to learn from the strengths of other actors and turn them into new skills for ourselves! Only by improving and changing all the time will the audience continue to support your ‘freshness’ and buy it.” Xia said that in addition to acting, the most important thing she wants to impart on newcomers is “self-restraint.” “As an adult film actor who frequently shoots sex scenes with different actors, private life and personal health and hygiene are ‘basic professional qualities.’ I hope all actors and actresses know clearly that if one person gets sick, it may ruin everyone in this industry!” she added.