Former actor Chen Xi, son of local celebrity couple Edmund Chen and Xiang Yun, has graduated from a year-long master’s degree programme in arts and cultural management from King’s College London in the British capital.

The 33-year-old posted photos on Instagram of himself in his graduation robes on Jan 23, with a long caption to mark the occasion.

He recalled his first day in London in 2024, struggling to find accommodation amid a heatwave in the city.

“After years in the workforce, returning to academia felt daunting. There were moments I questioned whether I could fully embrace studying again. But the hunger for knowledge that has always driven me gave me the courage to take this leap,” he said.

Chen Xi called the past year “eye-opening, insightful, and deeply rewarding” and thanked his friends, family and fiancee for providing him with the “courage and stability” to pursue his dreams. His fiancee is a Japanese woman known as Mimi, whom he met through an online language exchange course five years ago.

The post was accompanied by several photos of Chen with his family – his parents and his younger sister, actress Chen Yixin. In one photo, a young woman, likely his fiancee Mimi, can also be seen. The couple got engaged in 2024.

Chen Xi’s family all took to social media to celebrate his milestone. His father wrote on Instagram: “Watching you jump with happiness in your graduation robes – all of us felt your joy.” Actress Xiang Yun, 63, wrote in a post that she was proud of her son and wanted him to keep working hard.

Yixin, 24, wrote on Instagram stories: “So proud of you Kor (big brother), love you so so so much.”

Former actor Edmund Chen, 63, posted several Instagram stories of the family’s time in London, including watching the musical Hadestown at West End’s Lyric Theatre.

Prior to pursuing his studies, Chen, who is also a painter, appeared in Channel 8 series such as While We Are Young (2017) and Fix My Life (2023).

He told online publication AsiaOne in an August 2024 interview that he felt his acting career did not turn out the way he wanted, and he dreamed of pursuing his interests in the fine arts and immersive art spaces.