In 1984, the PBS network in the United States invited her to host the first live broadcast from China on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. Her other TV credits include the ABC documentary, "China's Walls and Bridges," which earned her a coveted Emmy Award.

    And other popular series, such as "Mini Dragons" and "Doing Business in Asia," fed the West's growing hunger for information about the East.

    Kan says "Yue-Sai's World" will target cultured and well-educated young people. Throughout her TV career, Kan has filmed in more than 25 countries.

    "Travel is important," she says. "Your knowledge is supplemented by what you see, sometimes through television, sometimes through travel. That's how I got to know so many great people around the world."

    She is a frequent presence at fashion shows and charity galas. She has an outgoing personality with an easy smile and is always ready to laugh. It seems that Kan has led a charmed life since she arrived in America.

    Born in Guilin in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Kan moved to Hong Kong as a little girl and then migrated to Hawaii, where she got a job as an assistant to a casting agent in an advertising agency.

    From there she went to work in public relations for a firm whose clientele included movie stars Bette Davis and Cary Grant. She saw early on the power of television as a means to bridge the enormous gap in understanding between Asia and the West and so she started to involve herself in television production.