Huang Bo
Xu had wanted to try his hands in filmmaking since acting was, in his words, "too passive". After the success of the comedy road film "Lost on Journey" (2010), Xu invited his co-star Wang Baoqiang to join his directorial debut "Lost in Thailand", a film with the same premise. However, as a first-time director, Xu had a difficult time selling his story, meeting with 3 different production companies before convincing Beijing Enlight Pictures to invest US$4 million. Huang Bo, Xu's good friend and frequent co-star in Ning's films, also joined the project. Released in December 2012, "Lost in Thailand" raked in over US$200 million from about 40 million people to become the highest-grossing domestic film in China's history. Shot mainly in Thailand, the film greatly boosted tourism to the country, and Xu even received a private meeting with the Thai prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra in 2013.