Zhang Lan: Barbie Hsu's ex-mother-in-law, now publicly disowned by her son

According to The Star, Barbie Hsu's ex-husband and hotelier Wang Xiaofei has publicly announced that he is cutting ties with his mother, Zhang Lan. The reason? Reportedly, the woman's actions have caused both her and her son's presence in Chinese social media to be shut down. And it's not Zhang Lan's first scandal either...

Zhang Lan is a Chinese businesswoman and influencer who has quite the strong online presence in Chinese media. This is not just because of the past relationship between Barbie Hsu and her son, Wang Xiaofei, but also because she is one of China’s most prominent businesswomen. As the Daily Economic News reports, she runs most of her operations through livestream sales.

Born on April 7, 1958, Zhang Lan is a native of Beijing and a Chinese citizen. Her backstory is quite intriguing, as the identity of her father has been reported to be different on several accounts.

Image: Weibo

One source states that her father came from humble origins, being a shoe store owner. Others say he was of aristocratic lineage. Yet another group, building on the autobiography of Zhang Lan herself, claims that he was a professor at the prestigious Tsinghua University, Xinhua News reports.

Image: Weibo

Despite the discussion about her father, Zhang Lan managed to establish herself as a legitimate businesswoman. She began a restaurant and food catering business after returning to China from Canada in 1992, reports China News Weekly.

Image: Weibo

Zhang Lan’s restaurant and food catering business was a largely successful one, and 'People's Daily' reports that she went on to create a second restaurant chain. This one, she sold off at the height of its popularity in 1997.

Image: Weibo

Zhang Lan then moved on to other ventures, with one of her most famous being the restaurant franchise 'South Beauty'. However, the creation of 'South Beauty' stirred up controversy as Zhang Lan was accused of being unpatriotic by Chinese netizens. They claimed she had acted against their country's interests with the creation and registration of her business.

Image: Weibo

According to a report by Sohu, Zhang Lan had switched her nationality from China to that of the Caribbean islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis somewhere around 2012. The nationality change, Zhang Lan admitted, was for economic reasons. She wanted to register her business in Hong Kong for tax benefits, reports Tencent.

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Her decision to change her nationality for business reasons sparked a scandal in Chinese media. 'Sohu' reports that in 2010, two years before the revelations about 'South Beauty', Zhang Lan had scolded other Chinese people for their lack of patriotism and announced that she would remain a Chinese citizen forever. It was a promise she later broke.

Image: Weibo

Zhang Lan earned the ire of Hong Kong authorities in 2015 when she was reported to have committed the crime of contempt of court during a hearing about the shares of 'South Beauty'. Authorities even tried to follow up and sentence her to prison, Sina reports. The case was later dropped due to insufficient evidence.

Zhang Lan later gained more fame due to her association with the Taiwanese celebrity Barbie Hsu. The actress was her daughter-in-law during her marriage to Wang Xiaofei from 2011 to 2021.

It was especially after 2021 that Zhang Lan's fame became skewed towards infamy. She took advantage of her livestreaming career on Douyin, which had started in that year, to make disparaging remarks about Barbie. Her comments got her into trouble, both before and after Barbie Hsu's death in February 2025.

Image: Weibo

Zhang Lan first went under the spotlight in November 2021, reports 8days, when she commented on her Douyin livestream that she "[pitied] her son" and lamented the end of his relationship with Barbie Hsu after the star had filed for divorce.

Channel News Asia reports that Zhang Lan came under scrutiny again when she made another comment about Barbie Hsu. She made a statement on Weibo in November 2022 with a list of allegations against the actress, her sister Dee Hsu, and DJ Koo. She claimed that they were colluding to "squeeze" more money from Wang Xiaofei's divorce.

The same report from Channel News Asia stated that Barbie Hsu posted a rebuttal on Facebook to counter all of Zhang Lan’s accusations.

The situation escalated into a lawsuit, as The Straits Times reports. In November 2024, Barbie sued Wang Xiaofei and Zhang Lan together for the defamatory remarks made against her.

Even after Barbie Hsu’s death on February 2, 2025, Zhang Lan continued her tirade against Barbie, AsiaOne reports. She publicly endorsed a negative comment made by a Chinese influencer, Xiao Jian, on Douyin.

According to Yahoo, Xiao Jian alleged during a Douyin livestream that the flight to charter Barbie's remains back to Taiwan was fully paid for by Wang Xiaofei. Zhang Lan was seen 'liking' the video, and as 'likes' are public, it sent netizens into a frenzy.

Image: Weibo

The allegation by Xiao Jian was later proven false by Dee Hsu and the airline company Vistajet, AsiaOne reports. Subsequently, Douyin and Weibo made the move to not just ban Zhang Lan and Xiao Jian's social accounts but also those of Wang Xiaofei. Their reasoning was the violation of several terms, such as "disrespecting the deceased" and "violating public order and morality".

The ban on Douyin infuriated Wang Xiaofei to the point that he announced he cut ties with his mother for implicating him in this most recent incident, The Star reports. He said he would also be suing Douyin for the ban.

Image: Weibo

However, The Star cites several netizens who remember that this is not Wang Xiaofei's first time threatening to sever ties with Zhang Lan. He had reportedly threatened to do so previously in 2022, and it did not happen then. Is he going to follow through in 2025?

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