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.