Playboy Club creator Cheryl XXW shares her story with Playboy of immigrating to the United States, her favorite travel destination, and her idea of a perfect day.
Playboy: Where were you born and what was your growing up experience like?
Cheryl: I was born in southern China, near Hong Kong. It’s a place called Guangdong. Growing up was pretty interesting — it’s very different from America. So I moved to the US when I was 15, but before that, I went to military schooling and lived with six other girls, bunk beds, all that stuff.
Playboy: Was there a reason that you and your family wanted to come to the US?
Cheryl: So there’s this thing called high school to college entrance exam in China, which is very rigorous, and a lot of girls, a lot of students, get really stressed out about it. My parents never really wanted us to go through that, because they went through it themselves. It’s just such a traumatic experience. You had to study a lot, and pretty much your whole life depended on one exam, right? They also loved the freedom of speech and freedom of expressing themselves in the United States. So we all moved to upstate New York.
Playboy: What did you enjoy or not enjoy in school, and why?
Cheryl: I’m always pretty good at math. I think that’s just the tiniest part of me. Like, when I moved to the US and went to high school there, my math level was already at AP calculus. Studying is a lot in China, so we’re always a little bit higher on that part. So I like it because it’s easier for me.
I think that my least favorite is reading, because I don’t know, I just read a lot in Chinese, and transitioning from reading in Chinese to reading English, it’s just a lot harder for me. So reading for me is so slow in English. And I remember in English class I had to read like Shakespeare, and I was just really having trouble. So I got the Chinese version of it, and then, I flew.
Playboy: What was the first thing you dreamed of achieving?
Cheryl: I don’t really have a specific goal yet, but I definitely want to make a difference. I feel like everyone has the ability to put a positive footprint in the world. And I want that, either small or big. I mean, preferably something a little bit bigger, you know, but like, even small impact, like helping someone holding the door, helping someone like crossing the street, like anything like that, I would love to do. Yeah, and to be honest, I think that is more important than having some big, specific dream, because that’s like, everyday kindness. And I think people need that a lot.
Playboy: What’s your favorite place to travel to?
Cheryl: Okay, this is a really easy question for me. I love Japan. So ever since I went there last year, I’ve been going back. I just went to [back to] Japan like a month ago. I just can’t get enough of it. I think I’m going back again next month.
I love everything about the Japanese culture. I love the food. I literally been to all of the Omakase spots in Miami because I love sushi so much. I went to Hokkaido last, last month, and the fish there was just incredible.
Playboy: What makes you happiest?
Cheryl: Learning about different culture. Just being able to see, at such a young age, how people live so differently. So I really, really enjoy traveling. And one of my favorite things to do that makes me happy is going to the local grocery store in wherever places I visit. You know, I was in El Salvador, and I went there and see what people eat. And now I’m in Spain. I love Spanish food.
That makes me really happy, like learning about different stuff, and trying to make myself better every day, right? Like you wake up, you’re thinking about, what am I going to do today to improve myself? And maybe could be learning a different language, like one word of language. I think that awareness of other cultures is huge, I really do.
Playboy: What would make you ghost a potential love interest?
Cheryl: Being rude to the people around them. I feel like you have to be nice to people without having a goal in mind.
Playboy: Describe your perfect day.
Cheryl: I really take my time to wake up. I have my morning water, morning juice, and then I have my tea, and then coffee. I drink coffee every day. I need my cappuccino with oat milk, no sugar. I just take my time, preferably somewhere by the beach. I will be reading a little bit with my dog. Miss my dog. I love traveling with him. It’s amazing. I just don’t know how to travel with him internationally.
I like to work out so I can be a little bit more active. So after the chill morning, I will go to the gym. That’s my perfect morning. Like, it’s kind of boring actually. I don’t have anything crazy, I don’t care at all for going out. So I guess I’ll hit the farmer’s market. I like to shop around there, and I guess have lunch there, and then maybe give myself a spa day. For me, doing something healthy like that makes my soul and my body happy.
Playboy: what’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given in your life so far? What really sticks with you?
Cheryl: When I first moved to Miami, I was walking around the street, and I see this sign. It just says, why not. And I’ve just been kind of living with it, you know, like, why not? People saying like, “Let’s hang out in Spain.” And I was like, Okay, why not? It’s something that I like to live by, like, you just have one life. Might as well make the most beautiful life out of it, you know?
When Playboy originally reached out to me on Instagram, I think last year, I was like, Oh, why not? And, yeah, it’s just been really wonderful, really happy that this happened. You know, I think everything happened for a reason, and this is a really good one that really happened in my life. I was really miserable before Playboy. I was working nine to five in a law firm. I was a marketing manager there, I graduated with a marketing degree, [but] I just really didn’t like it.
Playboy: What women do you admire and why?
Cheryl: My mother. She’s amazing. She grew up in the really poor side of China, and literally didn’t have shoes to go to school in. Like, she was going to school barefoot. And pretty much everyone that was growing up in that village stays in the village, right?
So basically, she just worked really, really hard, and when she did the High School Entrance Exam —most people didn’t pass the exam, and just kind of stay in the village — she just really nailed the exam and went to one of the top schools in China. The ratio of getting into that school is like 2%. She had to take several different buses to get there, and when she first got there, she didn’t really speak their language. She had a village dialect, and nobody could understand her. She was really working on it.
Then she finally started her own company, and made a lot of money, and then she just decided to immigrate to America and give us a better life, which I’m so grateful for. I wouldn’t be here without her. So it’s definitely something that really inspires me, and I definitely want to be able to provide more for my kids as well and inspire them.
Playboy: Do you believe in astrology?
Cheryl: I actually get that question a lot. I’m a Capricorn, but I don’t know anything about being a Capricorn. I don’t really believe in it.
Playboy: What do you consider to be your superpower?
Cheryl: I guess the adaptability, moving at such a young age from a completely different culture. I’m like, I can blend into different stuff. You know, like, if I’m in America, I’m going to be more Americanized. If I’m in China, I can be more Chinese. I’m like water, I can just adapt anywhere I go. So I guess that that would be my superpower.
But if there’s an actual superpower, I would love to teleport. I will love to just go to all over the place without flying. I hate flying, especially long flights. I’m so jealous of people who can sleep on the airplane. I can’t do that. Imagine if you just got on the airplane and you’re like, Yeah, I’m just gonna go to sleep for 10 hours, and when I wake up, I’ll be in Japan.
Playboy: What’s your favorite thing to splurge on?
Cheryl: Well, the first one definitely my family. My brother just turned 13, so I just gave him a credit card for his last birthday, and I gave him a little allowance. So, you know, he has a credit score history now. I was telling him every time he has his birthday, I will give him a bigger allowance for that month.
The second splurge is definitely trips. I like to stay in nice hotels. I will splurge a little bit when I’m out. One thing I couldn’t really spend money on, it just hurts me a little bit, is [business class] plane tickets. Economy is $700 round trip and business class is $6,000. I mean, come on. I always wonder if I took a business class that had a seat that went down, could I sleep? So I always wonder about this.
Cheryl is on The Playboy Club. Talk to her now.
