When Xia was a little girl almost all the adults around her were Peking Opera stars, but during the Cultural Revolution, when opera was targeted for sustained attack, Xia's mother prevented her from learning the art.
小時候週遭的姑姨叔伯幾乎都是京劇名角，但由於文革時京劇被迫害得厲害，母親「小趙嘯瀾」曾一度阻止她學戲。