For this chapter, I will break it up into years. So continue reading and scrolling down to get a brief summary of what went on that year or select one of the buttons above to navigate to specific contents that you’re looking for. Without further adieu, let’s begin!
Where one chapter closes another chapter quickly opens. Here we enter Xiao Zhan’s X-Nine chapter. The X in X-Nine represents the unknown and infinite possibilities, and the fresh personalities of the 9 members—Xiao Zhan, Peng ChuYue, Wu JiaCheng, Gu JiaCheng, Guo ZiFan, Zhao Lei, Xia ZhiGuang, Yan XuJia, Chen ZeXi (left in 2018)— gradually developed their own strengths in music, performance, variety shows, hosting, acting, etc. over the years. Here is how this story begins.
On August 28, 2016, Xiao Zhan posted a weekly vlog reassuring his XFX that “we will meet very soon,” and he ended his vlog in a very strange fashion: a mysterious person came over and turned him into…an egg? 🥚
Later, X-Nine weibo posted their first post announcing that the boys are in their possession and included a video of sleeping eggs. 😂 Can you spot which egg was Xiao Zhan?
Over the next few days, X-Nine weibo continued to post new vids of the eggs still sleeping. hahaha Such a passive way to build up anticipation, eh? 😂
Finally on September 1, X-Nine weibo reveals the eggs awake…and in diapers and pacifiers. hahahaha 😅 Guess which one was Xiao Zhan?
Yes! That is correct! Xiao Zhan was egg #8! Lucky 8! hahaha Now that we are already in the future, we know he is 8. hahaha Isn’t baby egg 8 super cute in a night cap, pacifier and diaper? 😂🥰
And when their mentor ShuQi got married on September 3, X-Nine weibo posted this picture to celebrate. hahaha
After this in the coming days, X-Nine weibo started to reveal hints of each egg. For Xiao Zhan, his egg was slowly revealed each day like this:
What do you think? Does it look like him? hahaha Finally on Sept 8, X-Nine weibo released his video hint:
Xiao Zhan shooting his segment of the promo debut teaser. I guess during his time shooting “Super Star Academy,” Zhan Zhan developed the habit to bring a mini fan with him to the sets. 😁
As their debut day approaches, X-Nine weibo began rolling out the posters and video teaser of the guys a week from their debut. Xiao Zhan’s poster was released on Sept 18 followed by his teaser video the next day.
On Sept 24, X-Nine weibo announced the launch of X-Nine mini album and the single “In One’s Own Name” 《以己之名》 Their very first album and single!
Their mini album and single broke 100,000 in sales in 10hrs online!
On Sept 25, Xiao Zhan posted his weekly vlog and revealed that they’ve been busy practicing dance for their debut stage.
Finally X-Nine Debut day came on Sept 28! X-Nine’s weibo released a teaser video at the press conference that tells the story of the nine children born to the dragon and the story of X-Nine officially starts.
Xiao Zhan also took part in a vcr to encourage fans to follow Xin Shi Xiang account on WeChat to get the latest announcements about X-Nine
During the debut conference, their former X-Fire mentors, Li YuChun and Shu Qi, both made a VCR to congratulate and cheer on the guys:
Well-known special guests were also invited to promote each boy via a short video presentation. There were hosts, athlete, fashion editor, actress, singer, child actor, etc. For Xiao Zhan, he had Hong Kong film producer, Bill Kong, to promote him. Some interesting facts about Bill Kong:
- Known for his active role in the Hong Kong film industry and international co-production.
- Most famous for co-producing the WuXia film “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture as well as a BAFTA Award for Best Film.
- He co-produced the historical drama war film “The Flowers of War,” directed by Zhang YiMou.
- His other credits include: “Crossing Hennessy” (2010), “Rise of the Legend (2014), “Monster Hunt (2015), Monster Hunt 2 (2018) and “The Whistleblower (2019).
- Monster Hunt at the time of release became the largest grossing film in Chinese history.
- Other works include: Zhang YiMou’s “Hero,” “House of Flying Daggers,” “Curse of the Golden Flower,” Stephen Chow’s “Kung Fu Hustle,” and Ang Lee’s “Lust, Caution.”
- He is the executive producer of the live-action remake of Disney’s 1998 animated movie “Mulan” (2020).
- He is the producer of the biographical musical drama film “Anita” in memory of the late Cantopop star Anita Mui.
“Xiao Zhan is an extremely warm and grateful young man. I admire him very much.”
Bill Kong, Hong Kong film producer
Could this be the earliest sign that our Xiao Zhan was destined for the big screen blockbusters? It’s mighty promising indeed.
Anywho, without further adieu, let’s launch right into the full debut conference, shall we? 😎
Xiao Zhan and his X-Nine brothers also did interviews that day since a lot of media were present:
After their debut stage, Xiao Zhan made a weibo post at midnight to thank his Xiao FeiXias for the flowers. His words were quite romantic, don’t you think?
There are too many people I must thank. Many times I breath a sigh at how lucky we are. The energy you all have given us allowed us to courageously move onwards!
❤️Xiao FeiXia❤️ Such beautiful flowers should also be a gift to you. Let’s walk by the sceneries along the road in the future together!
Thankful I have you!
You’ve worked hard, good night!
~ Xiao Zhan
On Oct 1, 2016, during their livestream “The Most Delicious Nine Hours” 《最美味的玖小时全程》they were presented with their debut certificate. 😄
After X-Nine debuted, Xiao Zhan was instantly swept into a whirlwind schedule packed with activities such as co-hosting their own X-Nine channel, recording more singles and music videos, appearing on variety shows, doing hours of livestreams, rehearsing and performing at their concerts, attending and performing at events, attending press conferences and doing interviews, doing photoshoots and interviews, etc. Also, the day after their debut, Xiao Zhan and his X-Nine brothers had to attend another press conference for their drama “Super Star Academy.” I won’t dive into too much detail about the drama because it deserves its own page (coming soon).
On Oct 5, Xiao Zhan celebrated his 25th birthday! 🥳 Happy 25th birthday Zhan Zhan! This was his 1st birthday where he celebrated with X-nine, colleagues, managment, teachers, etc. It must have been a big celebration with a lot of cakes because he posted twice thanking everyone. I’m sure he received a lot of well-wishes from fans on weibo, too! It must have been a very special birthday as he crossed into his mid 20s. 🥰
Wow! This is the most fun birthday ever! It’s great to have your company! I have received all your blessings, thank you all! Also: I’m 5 years old today (invalid rebuttal)
~ Xiao Zhan
8 months ago, when you guys celebrated my birthday with me, I wondered how would my real birthday be like? Still a warm and lively birthday, thank you! Thanks for your hard work! 🌹❤️
~ Xiao Zhan
On Oct 9, X-Nine’s first MV “In One’s Own Name”《以己之名》was released. You can find the full collection of X-Nine MVs here.
On Oct 11, Xiao Zhan and his X-Nine brothers flew to ChongQing to attend the Superstar Academy meeting that was held in ChongQing Technology and Business University. After the meeting, he flew back to BeiJing. First 6 photos were of him flying to ChongQing; last 6 photos were of him flying back to BeiJing.
October was a month where they promoted “Super Star Academy” extensively, despite this, Xiao Zhan was still able to drop by ChongQing on Oct 16 to see his family briefly.
“This week I did return to ChongQing, I did see my family even though it was for a short period, but so happy! I love you all!”
~ Xiao Zhan
On October 28, X-Nine celebrated their one month anniversary! They released a recap video + drew messages for fans. Guess which one was Xiao Zhan’s😁
On Oct 30, Xiao Zhan and his X-Nine brothers attended their first red carpet event—L’OFFICIEL Fashion Night Ode to Joy Awards Ceremony—where they performed their first single “In One’s Own Name”《以己之名》
“Reporter Xiao, takes the liberty to bring backstage tidbits! Snake essence*🐍🤷♂️”
~ Xiao Zhan
*”Snake essence” 【she jing bing】is punning “crazy” 【shen jing bing】
On Oct 31, Xiao Zhan and his X-Nine brothers flew to HangZhou for another Super Star Academy fan meeting. This was also a one day trip and when the fan meeting ended, he flew back to Beijing. Xiao Zhan’s sunny side up egg cap caught everyone’s attention at the airport 😂hahaha
Wherever Xiao Zhan may be flying to, he would always think of his fans. Upon flying back to Beijing, he posted this weibo to his Xiao Fei Xias:
Take off! Thank you everyone!🌹❤️
~ Xiao Zhan
Beijing is very cold! You all must pay attention to safety, hurry hurry fly home!
~ Xiao Zhan’s comment
**note: not sure if this was a typo or if Zhan Zhan really meant to type 肥 (fei2 fat) instead of 飞 (fei1 fly)
November rolls around and Xiao Zhan and his X-Nine brothers began it with an appearance on the First Annual Fan Carnival Weibo Fan Festival that aired on Nov 6. This must have been prerecorded because in actuality, on Nov 6, Xiao Zhan and Guo ZiFan stayed behind in Beijing while the rest of the guys went back home to visit family. Then the next day, he took ZiFan to an amusement park where they got soaked by water on a ride. hahaha
A good chunk of November was spent promoting X-Nine’s second single and MV “B.O.Y.S,” The guys spent the whole month creating short clips of themselves dancing to the music. Here is Xiao Zhan’s clip posted on Nov 25:
On Nov 16, 2016, Xiao Zhan’s cameo role in the drama “Shuttle Love Millennium 2“《相愛穿梭千年2》 aired and we finally meet boss Liang. Although Xiao Zhan’s role was not big, his character played a pivotal role in the protagonist’s journey and during the drama’s broadcast, Xiao Zhan also contributed to the drama’s promo with a one hour long Q&A with fans. You can read about it here:
On Nov 21, X-Nine’s music video to their second single “B.O.Y.S” dropped. This song was heavily promoted both online and in their X-Nine Channel episodes.
On Nov 27, 2016, X-Nine Weibo made the official announcment that members of X-Nine will make an appearance in the movie “Monster Hunt 2” and press conference events would soon start to promote the movie.
On Nov 28, 2016, Xiao Zhan and four of his X-Nine brothers recorded their first variety show appearance on Ace vs. Ace Friday Show《大牌对王牌》. That evening, Xiao Zhan shared his experience in his weekly vlog with his Xiao FeiXias:
In a blink of an eye, December arrived! It’s another busy month as the year wraps up. On Dec 10, 2016, Xiao Zhan and his X-Nine brothers attended Tencent Starlight Awards 《腾讯视频星光大赏》and won Youth Trending Boy Group of the Year Award《获年度青春大势男团奖》. Then on Dec 16, their Ace vs Ace Friday Show 2016《大牌对王牌》variety show episode finally aired on iQiYi.
And on Dec 19, their third single “Eight Laws of Eternal Characters”《永字八法》 MV launched.
Xiao Zhan also took part in another X-Nine livestream. He drew Yo Ge, the cat. hahaha
On Dec 23, X-Nine’s Weibo announced that Xiao Zhan and 4 of his X-Nine brothers will be featured in the January 2017 issue of SoCool magazine. This is Xiao Zhan’s first ever magazine cover in his career. Here is a video highlight and interview from their photoshoot:
And he did not fly back to BeiJing until Dec 28th. On the same day, he also joined his X-Nine brothers online to do their X-Nine Q&A Event with fans. You can read about Xiao Zhan’s responses here:
The next day on December 29th, Xiao Zhan flew to Macau with his X-Nine brothers to participate in JiangSu Satellite TV New Years Eve Concert 2017 《2017江苏卫视跨年演唱会》where they performed B.O.Y.S.
That night, after arriving in Macau, Xiao Zhan made one more weibo post before calling it a night! After all, he has to prepare for New Years Eve rehearsals and performance in the coming days! 😃
