If anyone can, Kan can

BIZCHINA / Biz Who

 If anyone can, Kan can
By Tan Rui (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-04-04 09:11

Yue-Sai Kan vividly remembers what she was doing on February 23, 1986. "I
was in my room waiting for my program to be aired on TV," she recalled
excitedly.

The program Kan was expecting was called "One World," the first TV series
produced and hosted by an American-Chinese on China's national networks.
Tens of millions of Chinese people were amazed by the show's
unprecedented broader view of the outside world. The show also made Kan
an overnight star and a household name in China. "I am probably the most
famous Chinese American woman in China," joked Kan.

With her fame and beauty, Kan is regarded as a TV hostess, writer and
trendsetter. Her name, Yue-Sai, has also become a well-known brand tagged
onto cosmetics, toys and TV series.

Kan was born in Guilin, and her father was a respected painter in the
traditional Lingnan style. Kan began practising ballet and piano at the
age of four after her family settled in Hong Kong. But after years of
hard work and a degree in music from the Brigham Young University in
Hawaii, the clearheaded girl made a brave decision to promote ties
between Asia and the West because "I felt that I could never be another
Rubenstein, and if you can't be the best at something, why do it?" So at
the tender age of 16 she packed her bags and headed for the United States.

In 1972 she moved to New York, where she and her sister, Vickie, started
a successful trading business with China. She also volunteered to host a
TV show in English and Chinese on a local Manhattan cable station.
Realizing the power of TV as a means to bridge the enormous gap in
understanding between Asia and the West, Kan devoted herself to creating
her first major TV production, a weekly series called "Looking East"
which introduced Eastern cultures and customs to a growing and evermore
receptive American audience. The program stayed on air for 12 years,
helping more Americans understand the "mysterious orient" making Kan a TV
personality and leading to PBS and CCTV inviting her to produce programs
in the mid 1980s.

In addition to her TV exposure, Kan was actively involved in many other
fields: setting up her own cosmetics company in 1992, producing a Yue-Sai
Doll, writing various articles and taking part in numerous social events
that have made her arguably "the most famous woman in China."

Having been off the public radar for a while, the restless Kan is making
a strong comeback with what she is good at, a new TV series called
"Yue-Sai's World." Different from her earlier shows "One World," "Looking
East" and "Journey Through a Changing China," which offered rudimentary
introductions to people in China and the United States, her new program
features some of the most interesting people and most fascinating current
events.

After living in both cultures for more than 20 years, Kan is surprised to
find that there is still limited understanding about what's really going
on in the world among many Chinese people, even though they have much
wider access to the outside world than before. "For example, a brand that
hasn't been introduced into China just does not exist to the people
because they have no idea about it," said Kan. "This could pose a serious
problem for deeper mutual understanding ," she added.

Kan's solution to the problem is the new program.

Kan placed herself in the roles of financier, executive producer, host
and promoter of the interview show that she believes is something China
really needs right now. "There are too many popular entertainment
programs but less serious programs of high quality in China today. If TV
stations are too busy airing programs like 'Super Girl' and Korean
dramas, there is no way for China to produce something exceptional and
thought provoking, and I want to do that better than anybody," said the
determined TV presenter.

Already being aired on Beijing TV and many other provincial TV stations
across the country, the program features Kan interacting with such
notable celebrities as Naomi Campbell, Queen Noor of Jordan, fashion
designers Valentino, Jean Paul Gaultier, artists Christo and actors
Adrien Brody and Andie MacDowell, learning the stories behind these
famous names and faces. But audiences still have their eyes on Kan and
her recent image change.

"I changed my haircut two years ago as I thought it had been too many
years for me to have the same hairstyle," she said. The bob of yesteryear
has been cut shorter to spread casually and comfortably around her head.
The reason for the change might be lack of time to fuss over hairstyling,
it might be her age, or it might even be boredom.

"The curiosity of doing new things is the driving force behind what I
have done over the years. I don't make money but enjoy getting involved
in something that can do good for society," she laughed. "As you said, I
am sort of an activist."

Kan's program is aired at 1 pm, every Saturday on BTV-5, in English with
Chinese subtitles.

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