People magazine called her "the most famous woman in China." Time magazine proclaimed her "the Queen of the Middle Kingdom." Money magazine described her as a "Modern Day Marco Polo." The Congressional Record deemed her "The De Facto Citizen Ambassador!"

They all accurately, if not completely, describe Chinese American Yue-Sai Kan, whose life straddles the East and West as a best-selling author, Emmy-winning television producer, humanitarian and entrepreneur.

Yue-Sai Kan was born in Guilin, China. Her father was a widely respected painter in the traditional Lingnan Style. Her family settled in Hong Kong and Yue-Sai's artistic ability and love for beauty began to be manifested when she started taking up ballet and piano at the age of four. Her musical talents impressed everyone but herself. After years of eight-hour practice days and a degree in music from the Brigham Young University in Hawaii, Yue-Sai Kan made a watershed decision: "I felt that I could never be another Rubenstein. And if you can't be the best at something, why do it?" With that, she turned her attention to her other great love: promoting a connection between Asia and the West.

In 1972 she moved to New York City and with her sister Vickie began a successful import/export trading business with China. Concurrently, she volunteered to host a TV show in English and Chinese on a local Manhattan cable station. There, she quickly grasped the power of television as a means of bridging the enormous gap in understanding between Asia and the West.

She formed Yue-Sai Kan Productions and created her first major TV production, a weekly series called Looking East, introducing Asian cultures and customs to a growing and receptive American audience. Rich in content, made vivid with Yue-Sai's personality, the series garnered critical acclaim, won dozens of awards and reviews such as this one from the New York Times: "Few people are able to bridge the East and West, but Yue-Sai Kan can, and does it with beauty, intelligence and grace." She was credited as the first TV journalist to connect the East and West. Looking East stayed on the air for 12 years, the last 2 years on the national cable network, the Discovery Channel.

Yue-Sai Kan's hard work paid off in 1984 when PBS invited her to host the first live broadcast from China on the occasion of the 35th Anniversary of the People's Republic of China. Soon after, in 1985, the Chinese government asked her to produce One World, the first television series ever produced and hosted by an American on China's only national network, CCTV. Her broadcast captivated the entire nation and made her a household name. Both the script and video form of the series were used as teaching materials in schools across China. Besides being trusted and loved by millions of Chinese for being the first to bring the "world" to them, her easy television style has also influenced a generation of TV journalists in China. After that, Yue-Sai Kan continued to produce sophisticated series aimed at raising the Chinese consciousness about the latest international lifestyle trends, and she contributed segments for the popular TV program Half of the Sky on CCTV.

In the United States, Yue-Sai Kan's other TV credits include the ABC documentary China Walls and Bridges, which earned her a coveted Emmy Award. Journey Through a Changing China, which was syndicated across the country, was so powerful that it was publicly lauded in The Congressional Record. And the popular series Mini Dragons and Doing Business in Asia, broadcast on PBS, fed the West's growing hunger for information on the East. A corporate version of the series was created and thousands of copies were sold to corporations and university business schools around the globe. Throughout her TV career, Yue-Sai Kan has filmed in over 25 counties and has created thousands of programs, some of which have been aired all over the world.

To make Asian Women feel confident in their own unique beauty, frustrated by years of needing to look her best before the camera without being able to find appropriate cosmetics for her Asian skin tones, coloring and facial features, Yue-Sai Kan founded Yue-Sai Kan Cosmetics Ltd. "I wanted to create, produce and sell the very best beauty and skincare products that we can offer to Asian women and to the world, and become the first global cosmetics brand from China." The products were launched in Shanghai in 1992 and were a huge success. The brand grew into China's leading cosmetics company, selling products in over 800 outlets through 18 regional offices in China's major markets. According to a survey by the official Statistical Bureau, the Yue-Sai brand has brand recognition of 95 percent! Forbes reported that Yue-Sai Kan has become "China's new role model and is changing the face of the Middle Kingdom, one lipstick at a time". In 2004, L'Oreal purchased Yue-Sai Kan Cosmetics Ltd. and the Yue-Sai brand name for its cosmetics line. Yue-Sai Kan is now the Honorary Vice Chairman of L'Oreal China.

In 2000, Yue-Sai Kan demonstrated her indigenous entrepreneurial skills again by creating a line of dolls with Asian features and costumes called Yue-Sai Wa Wa. It's the first authentic Asian doll brand on the international market.

In the educational and humanitarian areas, Yue-Sai Kan has established a fund that builds schools and awards scholarships to outstanding but poor students in high schools and universities in China. In 2002, UNICEF named her, alongside other international leaders and celebrities, as its first and only Global Chinese Say Yes ambassador. She is also involved with Orbis, a nonprofit organization dedicated to blindness prevention and treatment in developing countries and the Committee of 100, which is composed of outstanding Chinese Americans.

Yue-Sai Kan's uncanny understanding of China's needs are shown by the subjects chosen for her 5 best-selling books; On Television Production (when TV was just starting in China), Yue-Sai's Guide to Asian Beauty (when no Chinese were using makeup), Etiquette for the Modern Chinese (when the Chinese government needed to educate its massive public about good modern manners), How to Be a Beautiful, Healthy and Successful Modern Woman (the first comprehensive life style guide to career women in China) and The Chinese Gentleman (when Chinese men wanted to become the "new international gentlemen"). Her latest publication is The Complete Chinese Woman, which is due out in May, 2007 and is set to further solidify her role as an arbiter of style and taste in China.

In 2006, Yue-Sai Kan returned to television with a 52-part series called Yue-Sai's World, which featured some of the most interesting people and fascinating things in the world. This highly acclaimed series aired weekly primetime on over 30 major provincial and city stations throughout China and national satellite network CETV, which covered 85% of the Chinese viewing public. This gave Yue-Sai's World an estimated audience of 800 million each week. The series featured luminaries such as R&B singer Usher, legendary music producer Quincy Jones, Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan, international designers Valentino and Jean-Paul Gautier, artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude, actors Catherine Deneuve and Hugh Jackman, Oscar-winning producers Arnold Kopelson and Ismail Merchant, financial gurus Suze Orman and Robert Kiyosaki. The series has garnered raved reviews, including a phone call from the Chinese President Hu Jin Tao.

Yue-Sai Kan Productions Shanghai handles production and syndication of various TV projects. In addition, this company invests in movie production and in bringing outstanding artists, writers, sports figures, singers, exhibitions into China. Recent events include Dutch jazz singer Laura Fygi's Shanghai concert, Gold Medalist of Billiards Jeanette Lee's Shanghai Challenge and co-production of the feature film The White Countess by Merchant Ivory. Since 2006, Yue-Sai Kan has served as Chairman of the Invitation Committee of the Shanghai International Film Festival. Her work has uplifted the status of the festival to a true A-list level.

Yue-Sai Kan currently lives in Shanghai, Beijing and New York.

www.yuesaikan.com