China Chow, born in London, currently divides her time between New York City and Los Angeles. She is the child of late model/designer Tina Chow (who died to AIDS in 1992) and restauranteur Michael Chow (whose Mr. Chow restaurants are the talk of the town in London, Manhattan, and Beverly Hills), and has a younger brother. The first college graduate in her family, China graduated from Scripps College, majoring in psychology. She spent several years as a model, following in her mother's footsteps: She posed for Shiseido cosmetics in Japan, was seen on billboards for Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein, was named one of Harper's Bazaar's "It Girls" in 1996, and was named in the December 1996 edition of Vogue magazine's "The Next Best-Dressed List". Her acting debut was in 1998's "The Big Hit", co-starring Mark Wahlberg, whom she is rumored to be dating.
After the original pilot for the tv show "Young Americans" was filmed the producers cast Chow as an additional character named Paige. However, she backed out at the last minute and the character was dropped. Niece of actress Tsai Chin. Had no prior acting experience before her first role in "The Big Hit" Daughter of Michael Chow Daughter of the late Tina Chow, a fashion icon of the '80s. Maternal niece of singer 'David Byrne' (of The Talking Heads fame), who is married to Tina Chow's sister Adelle Lutz. Eschewed the party scene to take care of her mother, who was dying of AIDS in the early 1990s (Tina Chow passed away in January 1992). Briefly dated Mark Wahlberg after filming The Big Hit together. Holds a B.A. in Psychology from Scripps College. Siblings: One younger brother (Maximillian) and one younger half-sister (Asia). Following in the footsteps of her mother and her aunt, China also modeled for Shiseido cosmetics. Maternal niece of actress/costume designer Adelle Lutz. Her father is Chinese (with some English blood) and her mother was Japanese-German making her Eurasian like fellow actresses Jessica Anderson, Devon Aoki, Moon Bloodgood, Kelly Hu, Traycee King, Kristin Kreuk, Jaymee Ong, Maggie Q, Nicole Scherzinger, Monica Young and actors Andrew Johnston, Brandon Lee, Keanu Reeves, Rob Schneider, Russell Wong and Michael Wong.