Hand model grabs his big opportunity

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When Zhang Xi walks into the interview room, the 24-year-old looks more like a gym teacher than a model, with his sleeves rolled up and his muscular arms showing.

However, when he stretched out his well-cared-for hands, with slender fingers and smooth skin, Zhang reveals his professional side as a hand model.

Unlike most Chinese men, who hardly spend any time thinking about their skin, Zhang, a hand model who is one of the fastest-rising models in Beijing, finds more challenges and happiness in the stereotypically-thought “woman’s job”.

Q & A

Q: How did you get into hand modeling?

A: A friend said I have nice hands and should try being a hand model. So, we found this company, and it seemed reputable enough. I went and tried out, and now I am here.

Q: How long have you been modeling, was it hard to get started at first?

A: I’ve been modeling for a year now and, when I started, I didn’t have too much work. It was a process. I had to first learn how to take care of my hands, and then learn all the types of poses. Poses that show strength, security, things that relate to being masculine.

After learning the techniques I started to land jobs.

Q: Does the life of a hand model pay well?

A: It pays well. I make about 4,000 yuan each shoot. It’s good money.

Q: What do you have to do each day to keep your hands in condition?

A: I work out regularly, lift weights, dance and swim. I do a lot of exercises to keep myself fit, but activities that are hand-intensive I try to stay away from. When I lift weights, I wear gloves so as to prevent calluses, when I cycle, I try to keep the weight off my hands and arms and on my waist.

Also one of the most important things is to wash my hands and keep them clean and moisturized at all times. I get up and wash my hands, I have to be very careful with my hands at all times and not wash them too hard.

Q: What does your family think about you working as a male hand model?

A: My family at first was confused by my decision to be a hand model. Many of them felt that this was a profession for women and I should find a real job, a job befitting a man, but now after doing this for a while, they have come to understand it.

Q: Are there any normal activities you have to miss or can’t do?

A: Because of the need to protect my hands, I try to keep my hands safe. Some of the things I can’t do are physical sports and cooking. I chose not to cook because I might get hot oil on my hands.

There isn’t anything much in my life that is affected by my hand modeling. Maybe I’m an exception, I didn’t really have to change much in my life. My parents never had me doing the housework at home, so I’ve always had soft hands.

Q: What do you feel about being unknown compared to full-on models?

A: I really see no difference. I do this as a hobby, and I think it helps me build my confidence, not only in the field of modeling but in other things.

The best is to compare hand models to voice actors, you see the hands all the time but you don’t know who they are or belong to, the same is true for voice actors. You know their voices but you don’t know their faces.

Q: What do you think is important for prospective hand models to know?

A: I believe you need to want to be a hand model first, and then you need to have a professional outlook. You need to have a really good agency and agent, one who will invest in your training and development as a hand model.