Male model Mu Jiang is truly Mr Sunshine.

Loving the colour of sunshine so much, the 31-year-old would go to a gym to have his skin tanned a glowing, healthy brown, exposing himself to ultraviolet rays up to three times a month. "Man is beautifully tanned," explained Mu with a sunny smile.

Super-confident male model Mu Jiang wants new challenges. [China Daily]

That same bright smile won him the title of Mr Best Asian in the Best Model of the World Competition held in Turkey at the beginning of 2000.

"This contest, the only one including a male model competition, is among the top professional model competitions in the world," said Mu.

The contest was supposed to be held in 1999, but was postponed because of an earthquake in Turkey that year.

When the contest was held during the Chinese Spring Festival of 2000, Mu, with Ding Sihan, 19, a Chinese female model, joined hundreds of models from Europe, the United States, Asia and Australia.

Being able to speak a little English, he found no difficulty in following the schedules and making friends with counterparts from Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and France.

"I am a person who has a strong desire to perform, so when it came to display dancing on stage, I felt happy to follow the Turkish dancers' instructions," Mu recalled. "Even now I remember the impressive background music to which we danced - a Grammy-awarded song by Sting." Mu was so confident that he performed with no pressure in his mind.

A minute before the announcement of Mr Best Asian, he was standing with many others offstage drinking cocktails, wearing a suit at a grand party. He had a premonition he would win. A voice said in his heart: "Mr Best Asian will be me."

His words were echoed in reality, and with that trademark sunshine smile, he went up to the stage to receive the honour.

Yet at the climax of his modeling career, he quit. He started a business in a cultural exchange company of his own.

"I made my debut catwalking on stage as a model in 1995. I put much heart into it," Mu said. "After 1999 I suddenly thought that being a model could only be an amateur job for me and I wanted to do something new."

Mu Jiang seems always ready to face challenges in his life. In his teens he was trained and played volleyball in a Beijing team. One day a fencing coach saw left-handed Mu playing in the arena and suggested that he try his hand.

He liked what he saw when he watched sportsmen fencing practice and started himself as a professional in 1986.

In 1989 he was recruited into the Beijing Fencing Team, and then stepped up to the China national team. He has won championships in national matches and a silver medal in Asian contests.

"I chose to quit the national team and fencing, because, among so many athletes, as a young man, I had to be a partner to help train key members with their skills, instead of improving myself," Mu recalled.

By chance, he performed in a fashion show representing a suits brand. From there, he started a new career as a model.

Male models, whose status and payments have improved a lot since the late 1980s, are still in much less demand than female models.

Ordinary male models could earn 800 to 1,000 yuan (US$96-120) for one show. An ordinary female model, by comparison, would pocket 1,500 yuan (US$180) for the same show.

For famous male models like Mu, the payment is much higher, yet remains lower than his famous female counterparts.

Moreover he saw few challenges in the job: "I believe it could not be regarded as a lifelong career. I will regard it as a hobby," Mu said. "I like to take newer and harder challenges."

Like Mu Jiang, there are quite a few famous male models who chose modeling as an amateur job, such as Zhang Wei, and Hu Bing.

They are the lucky ones, rare stars among thousands of male models in China still struggling to get paid more and become stars. If they can learn anything from Mu Jiang, it's that a sunshine smile and super-confidence can take you a long, long way....

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