Model Mo Wandan, 23, says she's not a fashion victim and seldom shops for brand-name goods, preferring instead to browse in Beijing's flea market near the zoo.

One of the hottest mainland models, she had just been to Sanya, Hainan province, for an awards ceremony, and was about to jet out to Hong Kong for its ongoing fashion week.

"It's the first time I have been invited to Hong Kong Fashion Week," she says in a telephone interview, admitting that she's been lucky with her modeling career.

Initially, however, her father wanted her to become a professional athlete and she was sent to a sports school to train for the high jump.

At 16, she suffered a serious sprain to the medial collateral ligament and this held her back.

"My family and friends always said to me, 'You are so tall you should be a model'. During those depressed days, I asked myself what it would be like to be a model."

In 2004, she heard about the 10th China Model Star Contest, won and came to Beijing to develop her career.

The Shenzhen native found it difficult to adapt to Beijing. Nobody could understand Cantonese or her Mandarin accent and the dry weather didn't suit her.

"But I never gave up," she says and just two years later she became a well-known face. Then, in 2007, she made it to Paris Fashion Week.

Mo says she will never forget her first interview there. It was with John Galliano, head designer of Dior.

Galliano had already picked 45 models for his coming show, but someone suggested he should take a look at Mo, saying she was one of China's best models.

"It was a very strict interview. My translator was not allowed to go into the room, so I was nervous."

She catwalked in front of Galliano for 5 minutes and, surprisingly, shouted out to him, "I love you!" Mo says the great designer blushed.

"When I saw Galliano, I couldn't believe it was him. I used to watch him on television, but never expected to meet him. I wanted to say 'I like you', but because of my poor English, 'I love you' just slipped out," Mo says.

Galliano simply said "OK" to her, but she was soon informed that she had been picked.

This incident gave Mo a reputation for being bold and when a story was posted online saying she acted like a prima donna at a shoot for China's Cosmopolitan magazine, a lot of people believed it.

According to the rumor, the Cosmo editors prepared an expensive dress for her, she complained it did not fit her and then, when an assistant brought her a cup of coffee, she was reported to have shouted, "It's too hot", and dropped it on the dress, then walked away without apologizing.

Mo says the story is not true.

"Though I am bold, I am good to most colleagues. I have made friends with editors, stylists, and other models from all over the world. We treat each other very nicely," she says.

Time Out Beijing's fashion editor Shi Zhiqiang used to work with her and says: "She was talkative, considerate, and very nice to all the people present."

It was in 2009 that she became a household name. When the Milan Fashion Week ended last year, international reporters gathered backstage to discuss how to spell her name properly - a sign that she was being taken seriously.

Mo says her success is mainly due to the fact that China's economy is developing so quickly.

"Many big names are coming to China just because they realize there is a large market here. In order to cater for Chinese people, they need more local models."

Though she has been a model for five years, Mo says she is still a greenhorn. "It is only a start, because there is so much to learn."

She says it isn't all glamour being a model and cites her first assignment after coming to Beijing, to do an advertisement in a desert in winter. She says she was "frozen to death" because she had to wear just a jacket and short skirt.

"At that moment, I realized, you must love this job very much, or don't do it."

"Don't take it for granted that models are all beautiful. Because we always have to stay up late at night doing a shoot, sometimes we don't sleep well, and it is not good for the skin and hair. We also use too much make-up, which is unhealthy."

She says she's so busy she doesn't have time to learn English.

"There was a rumor in Western fashion circles that I was extremely rich because I hired a translator to travel with me."

Mo says she's not that rich, but according to her agents she ranks number five among the top earning mainland models.

As to the future, she wants to do some acting. "I love Jackie Chan's movies, and my dream role is to be an agent with a secret mission."