And we’re into Xiao Zhan’s 2018 year with X-Nine! After performing at JiangSu Satellite TV New Years Eve Concert 2018, Xiao Zhan flew back to BeiJing from GuangZhou on Jan 1.
On Jan 1, X-Nine’s 5th single “We Want What We Want,” launched. It’s an animation MV so I guess it’s quicker to put together since all the guys have their own schedule to meet and can’t all be present in-person to shoot an MV.
On Jan 3, it was announced that X-Nine will take part in Yin Chao Yin Release Night 《烎潮音发布夜》on Tencent TV.
On Jan 11, Xiao Zhan was spotted flying from BeiJing to GuangZhou to prepare for Tencent Video’s Yin Chao Yin Release Night happening on Jan 13.
After their rehearsal on Jan 12, fans must’ve been waiting very late at night for them at the event venue, because that night Xiao Zhan posted this video clip to weibo:
On Jan 25, X-Nine’s official weibo posted a concept poster for a new drama called “Joy Of Life” and tagged Xiao Zhan. Ah Ha! So Zhan Zhan’s next drama project is “Joy Of Life” playing the character Yan Bing Yun! Also that day, Xiao Zhan attended a press conference for the drama and took photos with the “Joy of Life” cast.
It looks like WJJW was bent on launching as many X-Nine singles as they could in 2018! Barely a month from the time We Want What We Want was launched on New Years day, on Jan 26, X-Nine weibo started the countdown to their second single launch off their second album Keep Online 2018. Xiao Zhan’s clip was posted on Jan 28.
Preparation and work on shooting the MV plus accompanying photos were already underway as early as Jan 19th.
Back track a bit to Jan 22. Our southern, snow-loving boy woke up especially early to catch his first snow only to be disappointed. hahaha
Early in the morning I originally crawled out of bed to see the snow!
Where! Is! The! Snow!
~ XIAO ZHAN
And so he waited…
Since I couldn’t see the snow! Then I’ll go watch the hot blooded “A Better Tomorrow”!!! Give TaLu Ge a call!!!
~ Xiao Zhan
And waited…some more
Then finally on Jan 31, our snow-loving boy finally saw his snow!!!😁 And he was happily ever after. 😁
Back track a bit before we head into February. On Jan 30, our Zhan Zhan flew from BeiJing to HangZhou to start filming his scene in “The Joy of Life.” The on Feb 1, he flew back to BeiJing. There are some upcoming X-Nine activities he needed to be there for.
Also on Feb 1, Xiao Zhan and his X-Nine brothers launched their 2nd single from their newest album Keep Online called, May I Have Your Heart IP. Have a listen and see how you like it! 🙂
On February 5, X-Nine weibo posted the video where they welcomed the public to participate in the discussion. Pretty interesting hearing everyone’s opinions and take on this information age we’re living in. Xiao Zhan’s answers were particularly funny. hahaha When asked how would he feel if one day he can no longer use his cell phone, he replied with “Breakdown.” When asked if he believes two people can maintain a relationship without seeing each other, he said “I do believe.” 😄
Also shared a funny bts. hahaha
On Feb 8, Xiao Zhan flew from BeiJing to InCheon. It was funny at the airport because Zhan Zhan just bought wifi from the airport only to later find out from a fan that she got it for way cheaper by buying online. The look on Zhan Zhan’s face was disbelief. hahaha 😂
On Feb 13, Xiao Zhan flew from Incheon to ChongQing for Chinese New Year! He spent a week and six days in ChongQing before flying back to BeiJing on the 26th.
And allow me to pop in his weekly vlog News Years greetings to his XFX on Feb 15! 🥰
And let’s pause to appreciate this Valentines Day Zhan poster😄
On Feb 15, Xiao Zhan and his X-Nine brothers performed at CCTV Spring Festival Gala Countdown Party 2018.
On Feb 16, Xiao Zhan and his X-Nine brother’s episode 3 of Ace vs Ace《王牌对王牌》season 3 finally aired. Xiao Zhan participated in the skit and watched the younger members of his X-Nine brothers play games. This time it was very chill. On a side note, I am glad to see that Zhan Zhan didn’t play the game because it looks a bit rough with a lot of slipping and falling.
Also on Feb 17, Xiao Zhan and his X-Nine brothers participated in the Sports Carnival 2018《2018体育嘉年华》.
On Feb 23, NYLON China shared on their weibo a photoshoot they did with just Xiao Zhan. This was Xiao Zhan’s first photoshoot with NYLON China. In the coming years, Zhan Zhan would appear a couple more times for NYLON China.
And on Mar 2, 2018, it was Lantern Festival!
On Mar 5, X-Nine weibo announced X-Nine’s 3rd single, “Big Show,” will launch on Mar 7! And the music video will launch on Mar 14! To see X-Nine’s music videos, visit X-Nine MV.
On Mar 13, it was announced that the guys will appear in KuGou Music Star Square the next day on Mar 14. After appearing on KuGou Music Star Square, Xiao Zhan flew from BeiJing to Shanghai on Mar 15 and returned back to BeiJing on the same day.
Easy Media also posted a photoshoot clip of the guys to promote their “Keep Online” album on Mar 13.
On Mar 29, Xiao Zhan and three of his X-Nine brothers went on the “My Wonderful Elective” university tour to promote their drama “Oh! My Emperor.” The university Xiao Zhan and his group mates went to was the University of International /business and Economics.
The next day on March 30, Xiao Zhan and his X-Nine brothers all flew to Osaka, Japan where they spent 4 days there to film their music video “Face Face” and do a photoshoot before returning back to Beijing on April 3rd. While waiting to fly to Osaka, Zhan Zhan was scrolling through his phone and touching his right cheek, then he asked his XFX if they had their wisdom tooth removed before. He revealed that his wisdom tooth was buried underneath his gum. That day, Zhan Zhan must’ve been researching wisdom tooth extraction because he looked nervous. Poor Zhan Zhan!
Xiao Zhan had a jam packed schedule during his time in Osaka filming their Face Face MV and photoshoots. After landing in Japan on March 30, it was an early morning call for the boys to get to their photoshoot destination before the sun comes up in order to catch the sunrise for the best natural lighting. It was a long day of photoshoot and MV filming before they wrapped late in the evening. Xiao Zhan and his X-Nine groupmate filmed two tired videos on March 31, and on April 1, the two were energized beans filming a happy clip. hahahaha
On Apr 5, a few days after returning from Osaka, Xiao Zhan had his wisdom tooth taken out and he shared the whole procedure in his Weibo story. It sounded painful…
The next day, he shared on weibo a selfy of his swollen cheeks. hahahaha Zhan Zhan you are too funny! Why would you want to seal Fang TianZe away???😂
The next day after wisdom teeth extraction, my face was so swollen that I wanted to reminisce about Fang TianSe!
~Xiao Zhan
Xiao Zhan’s comment: Those two months two years ago, Fang TianZe must’ve been abducted by aliens! He must have been!
Xiao Zhan’s comment: hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha please seal Fang TianZe away!
On Apr 9, Xiao Zhan flew from BeiJing to HangZhou and he did not fly back to BeiJing until Apr 13. This period must be when Xiao Zhan was doing round table readings and training for “The Untamed.” So much work went into preparing for his role, from working with wires flying around, to martial arts sword play, to learning to play the dizi, not to mention among the entire cast, he was the one with the most lines to memorize since he is the male lead in the drama with the most scenes.
On April 13, it was announced that “Oh! My Emperor” will begin airing on April 25 on Tencent and this official trailer was released.
On April 14, Xiao Zhan posted his #FaceValueSays# challenge to promote their new single.
#FaceValueSays# Done in a second rate the challenge!!
~ Xiao Zhan
It turned out that on that day, they were on a set filming another MV for their next single! Of course since we’re in the future now, we know that they were filming their “Do You Miss Me?” 《你想我吗》MV. Again, that year WJJW was really pushing out as many X-Nine singles out into the market as they could! That afternoon, Xiao Zhan posted again about how tired he was. Poor Zhan Zhan 🥺 幸苦了！
On Apr 15, Xiao Zhan flew from BeiJing back to HangZhou to join the cast and crew for “The Untamed” opening ceremony!
Also on Apr 15, X-Nine’s newest single Face Face released their preview MV and the full MV launched on Apr 18. To watch Face Face MV (and the rest of X-Nine MV), visit X-Nine Music Videos.
On Apr 20, X-Nine weibo posted Xiao Zhan’s character photo with a reminder that there is only 5 more days until the drama broadcast! If I watch “Oh! My Emperor,” I’ll be watching for Xiao Zhan’s character. I mean, just look at him!!!! 👀
On April 24, Xiao Zhan and his X-Nine brothers launched another new single. This time it was for the OST of their newest drama “Oh! My Emperor” called ““I Want To Give You”《我想给你》. Have a listen! It’s a beautiful song!
On Apr 26, Xiao Zhan announced on his weibo his new drama “The Untamed” 《陈清零》and his character Wei WuXian!
#ChenQingLingTVDrama# Who cares about the affairs of the afterlife? How ever many days is however many days! It’s a pleasure to meet you, Wei WuXian.
~ Xiao Zhan
On April 28, Xiao Zhan’s solo single ” for the “Oh! My Emperor” OST launched! When he sings, Xiao Zhan has a storytelling voice and he emotes so well that it hits you to the core. One of my favourite songs by Zhan Zhan. Actually everything he sings is my favourite 😁 hehehe
On April 29, Xiao Zhan made a funny post about the drama. 😂 hahahaha It’s true! Bei TangMoran saved the drama from a short broadcasting span by saving Luo FeiFei’s life time and time again! hahahahaha 🤣
#idoltube# On how to save Luo FeiFei’s life. In order not to let #OhMyEmperor# broadcast just the 5 episodes and end the whole drama, the prince has exhausted all his skills… …
~ Xiao Zhan
It was also announced on April 29 that X-Nine’s new album Keep Online will launch on May 9, 2018.
On May 4, X-Nine weibo announced a game they set up for fans to participate, “X-Nine trapped in cell phones.” It’s kind of cool how they made this interactive.
On May 7, X-Nine weibo posted a sneak peak of X-Nine’s newest upcoming single. Turms out this single only includes the oldest members of X-Nine and they are dancing in deep V suits. 😁 hehehe
Also on May 7, Xiao Zhan flew from HangZhou where he was filming “The Untamed” to ChangSha to film his guest spot on Happy Camp. This time around, Zhan Zhan went on the show on his own. He flew back to HangZhou the next day on May 8 after finished filming Happy Camp.
On May 9, X-Nine launched two singles off of their new album: “Like! Like!” and “Signal”
And let’s say a Happy Mother’s Day on May 13!
On May 16, a sneakpeak of X-Nine’s single “Signal” MV was released.
On May 19, Xiao Zhan announced on his weibo that he will be appearing on Happy Camp at 6:20pm! Wow! So Zhan Zhan invited back to Happy Camp on his own this time! X-Nine Weibo also shared a photo:
Also on May 19, Xiao Zhan flew from YiWu to BeiJIng for X-Nine’s Keep Online New Album Launch Concert happening the next day on May 20. Zhan Zhan flew back to YiWu right after the concert was over.
On May 20, Tencent released clips of the cast of Oh! My Emperor speaking their love lines. Here is Xiao Zhan’s love lines. CC for English subs!
X-Nine also launched their Keep Online New Album Launch concert. Here is Xiao Zhan’s vcr promoting it. You can watch all the contents from that day here. Oh right! And I must add that at this concert it was announced that voting will open up for fans to vote for their favourite X-Nine member. The X-Nine member who gains the most votes will be announced on June 1 and he will get a chance to release their first solo single in 2018.
On May 25, X-Nine launched their “Signal” MV.
Jun 1 has arrived! And guess what? Xiao Zhan wins his first solo single!!!! XFX did it! They casted enough votes to gift him his first single!🥳
Xiao Zhan also posted to his weibo with a song to thank his Xiao Fei Xia for his first solo single❤️
On Jun 9, Xiao Zhan flew from HangZhou back to BeiJing. Also on Jun 9, Xiao Zhan’s guest role on Produce 101 episode 8 as a senior aired.
Also on June 9, Xiao Zhan’s “Hello Star Interview”《你好明星 采访》was released by weibo. You can also watch other Xiao Zhan interviews here.
A good chunk of June was spent on the either the Joy of Life set or The Untamed set. Around this time most of the other X-Nine guys also had their own separate events going on. Everyone was busy making their mark in C-Ent.
For dragon boat festival, Xiao Zhan took a selfie with zong zi. He had not recorded a vlog for months. hahaha
Happy Dragon Boat Festival! Happy to get off work early! Don’t forget to eat zong zi!!
~ Xiao Zhan
And we now enter July! On July 5, Xiao Zhan posted his weibo a photo of rain drops on the windshield as he was leaving work. He also shared a recording of a poem he recitated titled “Rain.”
On July 17, Xiao Zhan posted his Weibo Story with caption saying how he was underwater all day. This must be the day he was filming in that dirty, stinky pond by himself. What a trooper! Zhan Zhan, you really worked so hard to give us a great show.🥺幸苦你了
Long time no see🐰!
~ Xiao Zhan
I was submerged in water all day!
Without knowing my hair has grown so long!!
And on July 24, Xiao Zhan posted another weibo story saying he love his work and he hopes his work loves him too. 😆
On July 26, After finishing up his work in Shanghai, Xiao Zhan was prepared to fly back to BeiJing. But a delayed flight meant he did not arrive in BeiJing until the early morning of July 27.
On July 28, Xiao Zhan did the ancient costumed photoshoot in BeiJing for Bazaar magazine before he flew back to GuiYang to rejoin his Chen Qing Ling crew. The rest of July and early August was dedicated to filming in the crew as the wrap up deadline looms near.
Now, jumping into August! On August 2, Xiao Fei Xias went to visit Xiao Zhan on the set of Chen Qing Ling. They brought desserts and lots of food and threw a mini banquet get-together for Xiao Zhan. Fan club also prepared swag bags for all XFXs to take home afterwards. Xiao Zhan was obviously impressed! hahaha
How are you all this talented?
~ Xiao Zhan
Made me proud for three minutes!!!
[You’ve all] worked hard, you’re the best!❤️
On Aug 10, Xiao Zhan earned his first ever endorsement deal as HERA’s Makeup Spokesperson in China.
On August 17, Xiao Zhan posted a greeting for QiXi Festival and also created emoticons. You can visit Xiao Zhan Memes page for the rest of the emoticons from this set.
🦐s, Happy Qi Xi ~
~ Xiao Zhan
Here! [I’ve] prepared [something]!❤️🌹
On August 21, Xiao Zhan posted about his strong reluctance. Reluctance about what? Strong reluctance to part with his character, Wei WuXian, of course! Throughout August, Xiao Zhan continued to film day in and day out until Chen Qing Ling finally wrapped on August 24 and Zhan Zhan flies back to BeiJing.
On August 27, “Battle Through The Heavens” finally announced a broadcast date for September 3. XFX would soon meet Lin XiuYa! 😍 And on August 29, their single “Breaking The Sky” for the drama’s OST launched!
On August 31, X-Nine weibo announced that X-Nine will hold their Keep Online Concert in HangZhou on October 4! Just one day before Xiao Zhan’s birthday! 😆
Finally we’re into September! 😆 And it’s time to countdown to Xiao Zhan’s “Battle Through The Heavens” drama! On September 2, Xiao Zhan’s promo vcr was shared on X-Nine’s weibo.
Sep 12, Xiao Zhan announced another endorsement, this time with AHC as their brand spokesperson!
It is a great pleasure to join the AHC family, to become the spokesperson of the AHC brand, to pamper myself, starting from @AHCChina. Recommeding it to everyone.
~ Xiao Zhan
On Sep 26, X-Nine weibo announced that Xiao Zhan’s solo single “Satisfaction” will debut at the Keep Online HangZhou Concert on Oct 4.
And on Sep 28, it’s Xiao Zhan and X-Nine’s 2nd debut anniversary! How time flies!
And lo and behold we have entered October and it kicked off with a whirlwind. On Oct 4, Xiao Zhan and his brothers held their Keep Online Concert in HangZhou. You can watch the entire concert here. That same day, Xiao Zhan’s cover feature in Le Figaro LifeStyle magazine also launched!
On Oct 17, Xiao Zhan joined the “Jade Dynasty” crew and started filming his first movie where he’s male lead.
On Oct 16, X-Nine weibo announced that Xiao Zhan’s solo single “Satisfaction” MV will be coming soon. Fast forward to Nov 15, the MV launched!
On Nov 16, X-Nine weibo announced X-Nine’s Keep Online concert will be held in ShenZhen on Dec 1.
On Nov 28, Xiao Zhan was invited to the COSMO Fashion And Beauty Grand Ceremony. He walked the red carpet and represented himself as young actor Xiao Zhan instead of as a member of X-Nine.
And just like that we’ve entered December 2018! X-Nine’s Keep Online concert in ShenZhen happened on Dec 1 and Xiao Zhan posted after the concert a few pictures of him posing with the standees his XFX prepared and he even took a sticker and kept it on him during the concert.
{“ARInfo”:{“IsUseAR”:false},”Version”:”1.0.0″,”MakeupInfo”:{“IsUseMakeup”:false},”FaceliftInfo”:{“IsChangeEyeLift”:false,”IsChangeFacelift”:false,”IsChangePostureLift”:false,”IsChangeNose”:false,”IsChangeFaceChin”:false,”IsChangeMouth”:false,”IsChangeThinFace”:true},”BeautyInfo”:{“SwitchMedicatedAcne”:false,”IsAIBeauty”:false,”IsBrightEyes”:false,”IsSharpen”:false,”IsOldBeauty”:false,”IsReduceBlackEyes”:false},”HandlerInfo”:{“AppName”:2},”FilterInfo”:{“IsUseFilter”:false}} 
This was the beginning of Xiao Zhan’s actor journey. He was bidding farewell to the boyband/idol chapter and now embraced his new goal to focus on becoming a good actor. It is an unknown path to him, but his heart is set on it. From here on, we won’t see X-Nine update about Xiao Zhan much on X-Nine weibo, nor would we see Xiao Zhan participate in X-Nine stages and appearances. From here on, it’s Hello, I am actor Xiao Zhan.
“My love for the unknown keeps me going. Breakthrough myself is my #PathThatIMustFollow#. I am Xiao Zhan, this is #MyChoiceMyPath#, how about yours?”
~ Xiao Zhan
On Dec 17, Xiao Zhan was invited to participate in Marie Claire Chinese Style Gala 2018. Again he walked the red carpet on his own and was announced as young actor Xiao Zhan.
On Dec 18, Xiao Zhan posted his award from Tencent Starlight Gala, “Doki’s Popularity King of The Year.” Because he was filming Jade Dynasty, he was unable to attend the event.
#StarlightFestival# Thanks to @Tencent @Tencentdoki “doki’s Popularity King of the year,” I regret not being able. to attend. This award belongs more to “us”! Let’s move forward together and live up to the good times! 💪🏻
~ Xiao Zhan
And that is all for Xiao Zhan’s 2018 year. It was indeed a year full of big decisions and moving on and moving forward. While still filming Jade Dynasty up in the mountains during new years eve, Xiao Zhan shared this weibo to wrap up his 2018:
The things you cannot take with you, just leave it in 2018!
~ Xiao Zhan
A rarity to spend New Year’s Eve in the mountains!
2019 charge!