Is Huang Xiaoming Really 1.79m Tall? Netizens Think His Love For Thick-Soled Shoes Suggests Otherwise

Chinese actor Huang Xiaoming, 45, has often seen his height become a topic of discussion online. 

The star identifies as 1.79m-tall — that's his official height according to his official profile —and many netizens find that hard to believe.

A netizen recently had a chance encounter with Xiaoming, who was at an event with actors Huang Bo and Li Dan in Shanghai. 

Said netizen wasted no time in sharing the pics they snapped of the group, and the photos quickly went viral... for reasons one might not expect. 

Netizens were fixated on the bright pink Balenciaga sneakers Xiaoming had on, not because of its colour but 'cos of how thick the soles were.

Some people online even estimate the soles to be about 10cm high.

In the pic, Xiaoming is standing next to Huang Bo, who is 1.72m-tall.

According to netizens, given the pair of shoes he had on, 1.79m-tall Xiaoming, should at least be a head taller than Huang Bo. 

However, the two did not appear to have that huge a height difference, leading netizens to estimate Xiaoming’s actual height, sans shoes, to be less than 1.75m.

The actor appears to be a fan of shoes with thick soles. (See pic below)

Turns out, the actor might have good reason for favouring such shoes.

“I once hurt my foot while filming, and had to have six metal nails [inserted] into my sole," Xiaoming once said online. "The arch of my foot is higher than the average person. If there's not enough space in a shoe, I would have a hard time squeezing my foot in.”

So it's not about wanting to appear taller?