She was born in Taiwan, Hsinchu on the 4th of April, 1979. The second child of middle-classed Hakka parents, Joe spent her childhood in JinWho Village with a large extended family including her grandparents and her cousins. Joe described her childhood as a happy one. After school, she would go to the paddy fields to steal sweet potatoes and roast them, or she would go to the river and fish. This changed when her parents moved to Zhubei in order to start their own home. Joe could not adapt to life in Zhubei and she became withdrawn. She used to be very afraid of her mother, who was a strict disciplinarian, to the point where she got scared whenever she heard her mother’s footsteps. It was only in recent years that Joe got to know her mother better and they become closer.
When Joe grew up, she decided to move to Taipei to live, escaping the unchanging world in Hsinchu. The first few years was very tough for her, she had few friends and was very lonely. In her book, “See Or Not?”, Joe described those days as a blur. She was very poor then but found it hard to confide her situation to her parents whenever they called. She took on various jobs, including being a model and an assistant before joining Jungiery as an artiste.
It is a common misconception that Jungiery was able to spot Joe and her talent at early stages and sign her into their company. That though is very different from the truth.
Joe’s connection with SETTV goes very back. She was noticed when she entered in a SETTV competition due to her comical ability and lack of shyness for dressing-up and pretending to be someone else. SETTV saw talent in Joe and wanted her. Jungiery at that time was one (if not the only) of the management company under SETTV and she was therefore assigned to Jungiery.
In 2001, Joe had a minor role in her first idol drama “Lavender” as Xiao Hui, one of the good friends of the female lead. This drama series was highly popular in Taiwan was it was aired. But Joe's role was minor here and she had an estimated 30 minutes of total screen time throughout the series.
Joe's first major hosting job was “China Is So Big”. This show travels to different locations in China and introduces the various cultures found there. Joe suffered a lot for this show as many of the locations could only be reached by foot. She also had to learn to drink, since in many Chinese customs the people entertain their guests with wine. It would be impolite to refuse to drink. It was not unusual for Joe to enter the house of a local and be greeted with three bowls of wine.
Joe's next role was Barbie in “My MVP Valentine”. She appeared late in the drama series as the pink-obsessed childhood friend of Prince (Tony Sun). This role is more substantial than the one in Lavender and her character left an impression on viewers. Barbie was originally in love with Prince but after realizing that he loves Xiao Xi (Angela Zhang), she gives him up and later falls in love with Gao Xing (Gao Tian Qi).
"Lao Neng Da Xi” was Joe's first non-mandarin series. Not much is known about this drama series except that Joe appeared as the granddaughter of the family. This drama series was probably filmed not long before she got frozen by her agency.
After “My MVP Valentine”, Joe expected to act in more drama series but instead she was assigned to host “Ship of Entertainment” with Jacky Wu and NONO. Even though many people envied her for having the change to co-host with the highly popular Jacky Wu, Joe was disappointed as she wanted to be an actress.
In a later interview, Joe revealed that she was very unhappy while hosting “Ship of Entertainment” and often went clubbing to numb her depression and loneliness. There were also many bad press reports about her and eventually her agency froze her to punish her rebellion. During the period when she was being frozen, she had no income and had to eat bread every day to save money. At one time, she slept too much during the day and woke up late at night. She then went out to the balcony and swore to herself that one day she would thank all these people for teaching her how to be brave. From then on, she became tougher and learned to treasure the opportunities that come her way.
Joe's next drama series was “100% Senorita”. In this drama series, she was cast in the dual role of Zhuang Fei Yang in the first two episodes and as Liang Xiao Feng for the rest of the series. This drama marked her first leading role and her first on-screen kiss was given to Deric Wan in this drama. Joe was still being frozen when "100% Senorita" was under production and Jungiery boss Sun De Rong was against her getting the role. However the vice president of SETTV, Su Li Juan, insisted on casting her in the role of Liang Xiao Feng, thereby saving her.
The story goes that when Su Li Juan insisted on casting Joe as Liang Xiao Feng, many people teased her about digging out leftovers from the fridge. But Su Li Juan replied coolly "She is not leftover, she is shark's fin that is usually kept in the freezer but needs to be taken out to sun every now and then". "100% Senorita" was highly popular when it was aired and was exported to China, Philippines and other Asian countries. Due to it's success, Joe went with co-star Wallace Huo to Phillipines to promote the drama and this became her first overseas promotion activity.
The role of Liang Xiao Feng was complex and Joe's lively portrayal of Liang Xiao Feng brought the character to live and her performance drew good reviews from critics and the audience. Joe and Wallace Huo were rumored to be dating during the filming for “100% Senorita” but they broke up after filming ended.
Joe's next drama was as Albee in “In Love with A Rich Girl”. This time, her co-star was Jason Hsu as Ye Wei Zhe. Jason had acted as Joe's love interest in “My MVP Valentine” and “100% Senorita” but both times he did not get the girl. Their pairing in "In Love with A Rich Girl" was a wish-fulfillment of sort for many fans.
After "In Love with a Rich Girl", Joe acted in “Woman Are Flowers ~ Other Love” as Luo Qiao Yun, the daughter of a rich man who was swapped at birth. There was news that Joe might not get the role as FTV is a competitor of SETTV. Since Jungiery was under SETTV, Joe could not take up the role as she would not dare to offend SETTV.
However, eventually negotiations with FTV were successful and Joe joined the cast of “Women Are Flowers”.
In 2005, she participated in the idol drama "Prince Turns To Frog". This drama broke the records for Taiwanese idol dramas and brought her into new heights in the Taiwanese acting world. She and her co-star Ming Dao were dubbed as the “dream combination, perfect lovers”. This drama was the rating champion when it was aired and was sold all around the world including Asia, America and Africa.
By 2005, Joe's popularity had spread in Philippines as “My MVP Valentine” and “100% Senorita” was bought and aired by GMA Network. Both drama series achieved high ratings when it was aired. Because of this, she was hired by the same network to guest star in one of the networks drama production, “Sugo”. In the TV Series, “Sugo”, she appeared in the first few episodes as Mei Li, the first love of one of the main characters who was appointed to bring a magical bracelet back to its rightful owners. Joe was in the middle of filming “Prince Turns To Frog” when she guest starred in this drama.
Riding on the success of “Prince Turns To Frog”, Joe's girls band 7 Flowers launched their debut album, titled "7 Flowers". This album was a success, selling 5,000 copies on the first day and eventually selling over 50,000 copies. During the promotion for the album, 183 club often supported them in their promotional activities and there were many interactions between the two groups during this period. 7 Flower was also the guest for 183 Club's first concert in Taiwan.
After “Prince Turns To Frog”, Joe became the host of “Treasure Hunter” , a variety show that pits two teams against each other in a variety of games and sports. Joe is the leader of the red team while co-host Zeng Guo Cheng is the leader of the blue team. Joe's hosting skills improved greatly while hosting "Treasure Hunter".She enjoys good chemistry with Zeng Guo Cheng and the pair of them is affectionately named the best father-daughter team by fans. "Treasure Hunter" forced Joe to challenge her limits and her fears (Of mainly heights and water). One significant breakthrough was her sky jump from 61 storey high when "Treasure Hunter" went Macao in early 2007. "Treasure Hunter" also brought Joe to many different countries for filming, such as Korea, Guam (Part of USA) and Singapore.
In 2005, Joe guest starred in two episodes of the long running drama series, “Home of Dr. Big Bear” as Xiao En, the sister of one of the main characters.
In 2006, Joe became the host of a new cooking variety show “Manly Chef”. Her co-host is again Zeng Guo Cheng, who is also her co-host in “Treasure Hunter”. Together with celebrity chefs Ah Ji Shi and Zhan Mu Shi, the show has been climbing steadily in ratings since it was launched and finally broke 3 in 2007.
The successful father-daughter pairing also led to SETTV choosing Zeng Guo Cheng and Joe to host their 2008's New Year Countdown in Kao Hsiung.
After “Prince Turns To Frog”, Joe was to have starred in a new drama series “Xia Nv Ai Da Mao” with Tony Sun. However, the production of this drama series was constantly delayed and was eventually cancelled, to the huge disappointment of fans who had been waiting impatiently for Joe's next drama. Whether due to the delays caused by “Xia Nv Ai Da Mao” or other factors, Joe had to wait for nearly ten months before she acted in another drama series. This drought of ten months remains a sore point with many fans who blamed her agency Jungiery for the delay.
In 2006, Joe stared in the drama series “A Game About Love” aka “Rock Paper Scissors" as Ye Duo Li. The drama focuses on the relationship between the three main characters, Ye Duo Li (Joe), We Qi Xiang (Sam Wang) and Chen Ke Luo (Michael Zhang). The series marked her first starring role outside of SETTV and allowed her to work with other production teams. Joe mentioned once in an interview that the character of Ye Duo Li was very difficult to act as she was the complete opposite of herself. So she spent a lot of effort in building this character.
In 2007, idol drama series “Ying Ye 3+1” reunited her with Ming Dao, her co-star in Prince Turns to Frog. The script of “Ying Ye 3+1” was criticized as weak when it was aired and the ratings suffered as a result. However, Joe’s performance as a young girl showed improvement and the drama brought her and Ming Dao closer together.
2008 marked another turning point in her career as Joe’s idol drama “Fated To Love You” aka “You’re My Destiny” became a huge hit in Taiwan. Its ratings exceeded that of Joe’s previous record “Prince Turns To Frog”. Joe said that “Fated To Love You” is the happiest drama that she had worked on, because she enjoyed working with the director, her co-stars and the crew of Fated To Love You. Her pairing with co-star Ethan Ruan was very popular and they are affectionately called the Mr and Mrs Ji by fans. Joe’s layered performance in “Fated To Love You” also won her a nomination in the Best Actress category at the 2008 Golden Bell Awards. "Fated to Love You"'s success led to Joe going to Hong Kong and Malaysia for the first time for promotion purposes.
In the same year, Joe released her first book, “Qiao Jian Mei” (See Or Not?). Viewing the book more as a personal project rather than a commercial production, Joe insisted on writing every word, choosing every picture in the book herself. This book was launched near her birthday as her own birthday present to herself. However, due to Joe’s busy filming schedule, only 1 official autograph session was ever held for this book. After finishing filming Fated To Love You, Joe was invited to guess star in SETTV’s idol drama “Invincible San Bao Mei” as Chen Xin Yi, her character in “Fated To Love You”.
At the end of 2008, Joe reunited with Ming Dao in her first China drama, “Staying By Sunshine, Staying By You”. This drama can be said to be one of Joe’s fastest production by far as filming only took place for 1 and a half month. During this period of time, she also returned to Taiwan once to film an advertisement for her newest endorsements “十二之天贰Online 【CF】” and 雅芳 AVON.
She was selected by AVON for their new product for skincare. Joe showed her dedication to being a responsible endorser by using the products herself, not just for a few days but consistently. She also promoted AVON on her blog.
This year, 2009, is showing itself to be possibly another greater point in Joe’s career. At the start of 2009, she took up Triumph’s “蕾黛丝Ladies” bra advertisement. Joe used to be very conservative and shy of showing off her good figure but as time passed, she has slowly matured in thinking and decided that good figures are meant to be shown, before she gets old and the good body slowly fades. She also took up a second endorsement in China, for the Master Kong Green Tea. Through this advertisement, she got to work for the first time with male idols Joe Cheng and Mike He. Joe was also selected in 2009 by Formosa Optical to be the spokeswomen for their new brand of spectacles.
Joe’s various endorsements showed her rising popularity as well as various different sides of her. She appeared as the cute, lively girl in Master Kong Green Tea advertisement, the sexy lady for her Ladies bra advertisement, the sporty girl in the Formosa Optical endorsement, the elegant lady in the AVON posters and also, the evil and cool warrior in the online gaming commercial.
Joe is also given the chance to publish yet another book in 2009 and the publication company even let her go to France for a photoshoot in March. Her new book was released in June and she held a total of 2 autograph session in Taiwan.
Joe took on a SETTV drama “Easy Fortune Happy Life” again and got to work with new costars Blue Lan and Roy Chiu. She also worked once again with Director Liu Jun Jie, one of the person that helped wrote a recommendation for her first book “See Or Not”.
Currently, Joe is in Mainland filming her drama "Jia Qi Ru Meng", adapted from a popular online novel. She reunites with Roy in this drama and will be working with a new costar William Feng Shao Feng.
The director for this drama is Shen Yi who has already worked with Joe before in 100% Senorita.
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) I will keep reading this thread and post once in awhile. thanks girls! 
Great job vicki and suushi for the topic starts. 
)
. So I'm definitely expecting more earth grounded scenes and realistic kisses as well. 
Posted 20 June 2009 - 09:19 AM
