Yue-Sai Kan: Chinese visionary

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Yue-Sai KanChinese-American Yue-Sai Kan talks about her remarkable cross-cultural life.

The American magazine People calls her “the most famous woman in China” while Time magazine proclaimed her “the Queen of the Middle Kingdom.”

Chinese-American Yue-Sai Kan is an award-winning television host and producer, fashion icon, best-selling author, humanitarian, and successful entrepreneur. She’s been a figure in both Chinese and American media for decades. She produced and hosted the Chinese series One World, making her the first American to host a TV show in China. That made her a household name in the country. The Emmy-winning television host offered what she believes is the key to conducting compelling interviews.

“You have to know them well enough to be able to ask such questions,” explained Kan. “I think the more personal it is, the better it is. You find out more about that person.”

Yue-Sai Kan: Chinese visionary

Chinese-American Yue-Sai Kan is an award-winning television host and producer, cosmetics entrepreneur and humanitarian. She talks about her remarkable cross-cultural life.


Always a visionary, she later launched her own cosmetics brand, the first foreign-owned cosmetics company in China. It soon became the leading cosmetics company in the country.

In 2001, UNICEF named her its first and only Chinese-American “Say Yes” Ambassador for Children. She’s also dedicated to several Chinese non-profit organizations, which are committed to the betterment and advancement of women and children. And while the idea of philanthropy is a relatively new one in China, Kan said it’s quickly gaining momentum.

“They are beginning to be giving,” said Kan. “They’re beginning to understand the value of giving. I think that this is a very good beginning and I find the Chinese really, quite generous.”

Kan has also launched her own initiative to build schools, libraries and award scholarships to outstanding underprivileged students.

Yue-Sai Kan joined Mike Walter in our New York studio to share more about her remarkable cross-cultural life.