Yue-Sai Kan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Yue-Sai Kan (Chinese: 靳羽西; pinyin: Jìn Yǔxī; b. Guilin, Guangxi, China, October 1, 1949) is a Chinese American television personality, author, entrepreneur, and humanitarian. People magazine named her "the most famous woman in China."
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[edit] Early life
Kan was born in Guilin, in China's southern province of Guangxi, on the day of the founding of the People's Republic of China. She is the oldest of four sisters, and her father was a traditional painter. She moved as a young girl to Hong Kong, spending most of her childhood there, then moved to Hawaii where she studied for a degree in music. She joined her sister in New York in 1972 and becoming involved in public relations and television production work.
[edit] Work in television
She has created a number of popular television series which are viewed by hundreds of millions of television viewers in the People's Republic of China. Her series, which are often bilingual in Chinese and English, typically link East and West by exposing Chinese viewers to American subjects, and vice versa. Her Looking East series first aired in 1978 and ran for twelve years, the last two on the Discovery Channel.
On October 1, 1984, she hosted the first live broadcast from China to the West, on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China; the program was a co-production of PBS and China's CCTV network. The program brought Kan to prominence in China and led the Chinese government to offer her a new television series, One World. The twice-per-week program, which exposed Chinese viewers to cultures around the world, was the first-ever television series hosted by a Chinese-American on national Chinese TV.
Her ABC TV documentary China Walls and Bridges received an Emmy award in 1989. Other of her series include Mini Dragons and Doing Business in Asia. Her newest series, on which she interviews various North American and European celebrities and politicians, is entitled Yue-Sai's World, which airs in 36 provinces of China.
[edit] Cosmetics entrepreneur
In 1989, the Chinese government suggested that Kan establish a business in China, in order to strengthen foreign investment in China; it was believed that her celebrity would ensure the company's success. She eventually founded, in 1992, Yue-Sai Kan Cosmetics Ltd., China's first major cosmetics company. Kan has stated that she chose to start a cosmetics company due to a lack of cosmetics that were suitable for Asian skin tones. At that time, cosmetics were not commonly used by Chinese women, but Kan was confident that this would change. By 2003, the company was generating annual revenues of nearly US$50 million. The company was sold to L'Oreal, the world's largest cosmetics company, in May 2004, although Kan retained a controlling interest.
[edit] Books
Kan has written four books; they include One World, Yue-Sai's Guide to Asian Beauty, and Etiquette for the Modern Chinese.
[edit] Humanitarian work
She has worked with the charity organizations UNICEF and ORBIS International. She has also built five school buildings for poor children in her home city of Guilin.
Kan lives in Shanghai and New York City.
