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Yuxi's World

"Although I speak it now, my Chinese is still lousy, you know. There was a time when I couldn't speak it at all. I had to learn how," said Kan, looking very much the star she still is in a pink and black outfit, her hair different from the style she once made famous here.

It is odd admission that Yue-sai Kan aka Jin Yuxi once did not speak Chinese and is therefore not as thoroughly Chinese as you might imagine her to be. This while bearing in mind her incredible story and the effect it has had on the Chinese people, at the very heart of the country's modernisation process during the last two decades.

"You must understand; the fame was immediate. There had been no one like me in China up to that time," said Kan.

The moment of which she speaks and the tidal wave of national support that has followed her ever since began in 1984, when Kan famously hosted the first live broadcast from China to the West, a joint cooperation between the United States' Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and China Central Television (CCTV), the national broadcaster, in China. The occasion was the 35th anniversary celebrations of the People's Republic of China on National Day on October 1, for which Kan provided live commentary.

"In those days, China was like walking through mars, a completely new terrain for anyone who hadn't experienced it. It was an incredible place and CCTV was so proud of their achievement with the broadcast. It had been a complete success. I was also immensely proud," said Kan.

Following the broadcast, the Chinese Government approached Kan in 1985 and proposed the idea of "One World."

"As part of its opening-up policy, the idea of the series was to bring the world to the Chinese people," said Kan.

The series was to be in the documentary style, taking a look at western countries and was specifically packaged for a people who had never before "seen beyond their own walls." The twice-a-week broadcast was the first television series ever hosted by a Chinese-American on national Chinese TV; it catapulted Kan to stardom, Chinese style. The CCTV series had people glued to their TV sets, despite the fact that back then China was very poor and TV sets were few and far between.

The fame was hard won. Kan's story begins in Guilin, where she was born in 1949 on the day the People's Republic was founded. The eldest of four sisters, her parents were a hardworking Southern Chinese, her father a celebrated traditional Chinese painter, and her mother a homemaker, farmer and part-time entrepreneur.

The family moved from the Chinese mainland to Hong Kong, where, after a second-level education, Kan studied music. In 1972, Kan joined her sister in New York City, and in 1978, she began to produce and host "Looking East," a documentary series about Asian culture seen through the eyes of a Chinese-American on PBS. The novel, entertaining and educational show aired on PBS for 12 years. Then came the Tian'anmen broadcast in 1984 and the instantaneous fame of "One World" in 1985.

"Everyone needs to find their own destiny and I found mine," said Kan of the show's success.

Kan's love affair with China matured, and in 1989, China requested her help. To maintain and strengthen foreign investment in the country, it was suggested that she establish a business in China. The government knew that Kan's celebrity could help change China's media image at home and abroad. In 1992, Yue-Sai Kan Cosmetics Limited was born. It was an instant success.

"I built factories. I made a real solid business; it was not just a PR stunt," said Kan.

Her hairstyle-a "bob" known as the "Yue-sai"-her clothes and her cosmetics were copied and used by millions of women across China. Her bilingual TV shows stimulated the people's interest in learning to speak English. She was a celebrity.

But, there was more to her success than post-modern media-generated hype.

"Many Chinese people felt left behind at that time. In 1992, I was in Beijing giving a make-up demonstration. A woman in her mid-30s came up to me, holding a tube of lipstick. Her hand was shaking. She said 'Yuxi, I have never worn lipstick before; I don't know what to do with it.' It was shocking," said Kan.

Kan's anecdote goes some way in explaining the nature of her role-part circumstance, part drive, part luck-in the social history of the country's transition to modernity, especially that of the country's women.

"I had travelled extensively and felt I was a very good candidate to fulfil this much-needed role. I understood what was involved," said Kan.

By 2003, Yue-Sai Kan Cosmetics had generated annual revenues of almost US$50 million, making it very saleable. And it was sold, to L'Oreal, the world's largest cosmetics company, although Kan retained a controlling interest.

Sharing her good fortune has always been part of Kan's plan. As an ambassador for UNICEF and with her interest in China's youth and their education, Kan looked for a way to get involved in education in China. She began by building a school in Guilin.

"We have built five school buildings for 230 local children of poor families. We provide great scholarships for them. Before that, their schooling took place in school buildings that were unsafe…completely out of date," said Kan.

Kan has continued to capitalise on her good fortune and national celebrity. She has written three best-sellers in China: One World, Yue-Sai's Guide to Asian Beauty and Etiquette for the Modern Chinese. Her TV credits include contributing to the popular Chinese culture programme "Half of the Sky" and documentaries on China: "Journey through a Changing China,"  "Mini Dragons and Doing Business in Asia" and "China Walls and Bridges" for which she won an Emmy Award in the United States.

Now 56, Kan's celebrity story in China is far from over. Although not the massive celebrity of former days-something that may be about to change-she is still a household name, loved and adored by millions of Chinese all over the world.

Kan was in Beijing promoting her latest TV series "Yue-Sai's World" that promises to be fun, celebrity-TV that delves into the lives of the lives of the rich and famous-of which she now very much belongs. It will air in 36 provinces across China in the New Year.

"For the new series I interviewed my friends and had great fun doing it," said Kan. On the show, her friends include Julio Iglesias, Victoria Beckham, Jean-Paul Gaultier and Roger Moore, Hilary Clinton and Celine Dion.

"The biggest challenge remains for me to syndicate myself across the media networks in China," said Kan of her latest venture in China.