Yue-Sai Kan is an Emmy-winning television host and producer, successful entrepreneur, fashion icon, bestselling author and humanitarian.  People magazine called her "the most famous woman in China” and Time magazine proclaimed her "the Queen of the Middle Kingdom."

 

In 1972, Yue-Sai created the weekly television series "Looking East", the first of its kind to introduce Asian cultures and customs to a growing and receptive American audience.  The series garnered critical acclaim and won dozens of awards. In 1984, PBS invited Yue-Sai to host the first live broadcast of a television program from China on the occasion of the 35th Anniversary of the People's Republic of China. 

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Two years later the television series "One World" produced and hosted by Yue-Sai aired on China’s national television network CCTV, with a weekly viewership of 300 million.  It was the first time a non-Chinese citizen hosted a TV series in China.  At that time with her broadcast in both China and the United States, she was the most watched woman in the world.  Yue-Sai’s many 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, and more recent shows including "Yue-Sai's World" and "Yue-Sai's World Expo".

 
In 1992, Yue-Sai created the Yue Sai Cosmetics brand which grew into China’s leading Cosmetics Company, selling products in more than 800 outlets through 23 regional companies in China's major markets.   More than 90% of the Chinese population today recognizes the brand, which was purchased by L'Oreal in 2004.  Additionally, she has written 9 best-selling books, and in 2000, became the first and only living American featured on a Chinese government-issued postage stamp. 

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Throughout her life, Yue-Sai has been deeply involved in charity work.  She served and is still serving on the boards of a number of prominent charitable organizations in China and the United States, including the Shanghai Soong Qing Ling Foundation, Citymeals on Wheels, the Ellis Island Honors Society and Prince Albert of Monaco's Philanthropy Round Table, etc.  For years, Yue-Sai was chairing the Miss Universe China Final Pageant which she turned into the most glamorous charity ball in Shanghai.  Annually it raised millions to support orphanages, cleft lip and palate correction surgeries and scholarships for students in China's best music, TV and film schools.  Yue-Sai is also the Chairwoman of China Institute, a 96-year-old organization whose mission is to advance a deeper understanding of China through programs in Chinese language, culture, art, culinary art, and business.  Her own charitable foundation Yue-Sai Kan China Beauty Charity Fund has been providing scholarships for Chinese students at the Fashion Institute of Technology and established sustainable fashion educational programs for executives and professionals at Chinese fashion companies. In 2022, Yue-Sai Kan China Beauty Charity Fund is rebranded to Yue-Sai Kan One World Foundation, to promote understanding of the history, geography, traditions and cultures of countries of Asia, through the production and distribution of films, television content, radio broadcasts, media and books. She is a member of the Committee of 100 and was ordained a Dame of Malta in 2022.  In 2022, the Schlesinger Library at Harvard University acquired her entire life archival material to further scholarship and the understanding of the history of women in America.