"Monday
evening was to Yue Sai Kan's fabulous 10,000 square foot
apartment in Shanghai's very exclusive "The House". It was a night
of celebration for Yue Sai, who is launching a home furnishing company,
aptly named House of Yue Sai. Being the most famous and successful
(translate wealthiest) businesswoman in all of China, and knowing her taste
level, this is certain to be major success! Her apartment ... absolutely
exquisite. Talked with sculptor, Guang Ci, whose work will
be in Sotheby's September 20th auction in New York City. His agent, Richard
Loh, who once lived and owned stores in NYC, told us his primary
focus is to help the poor artists in Beijing, to garner exposure for
them." - by Judith Agisim, Postcard from Shanghai NY
SOCIAL DIARY
Kan was already a nationally known TV presenter when she founded Yue-Sai Kan
Cosmetics in 1992. At the time, most Chinese women didn't use cosmetics.
Western models dominated the covers of Chinese women's magazines, selling
Western styles and standards of beauty. Kan, who grew up in a family of
artists in Guilin, gambled that a cosmetics line better suited to Asian skin
tones and hair color would change that.
It was a good bet: So many women were willing to spend＄6
on a lipstick or ＄10 on powder cake
that by 1996 her company was No.1 in the Chinese market. In January, Kan
agreed to sell her brand to L'Oreal for an undisclosed sum, though she
continues to run the company. "My brand is personality-driven,"
Kan says. "The key to my success is my credibility. People trust
me." - by Annie Wang FORTUNE
9 Oct 2004
Yue-Sai Kan, a well-known Chinese American in China who made her name in
cosmetics and beauty tips for Chinese women, has turned her attention to
inner beauty.
Her latest book "Etiquette for the Modern
Chinese," which came off the press a few weeks ago, is a sister book to
her previous "Yue-sai Kan's Guide to Asian Beauty" in which she
claimed there were no ugly women in the world, only those who did not know
how to make up properly.
In her new book, Kan states that the saddest man
in the world is the one who has nothing but money.
Unlike many other books in the category that
introduce Western etiquette, Kan has based the book on her personal
experiences in China, a place she has visited frequently since 1986.
She feels strongly that while many Chinese people
have become rich overnight in the last two decades, their manners do not
match "international practice."
In her book, Kan explains how to behave properly
on a variety of occasions, such as in a plane, a bus or an elevator, how to
answer phone calls, how to drive, how to conduct oneself in a theatre and
even how to behave in a public lavatory.
Kan cites the time she was in the audience at the
magnificent Shanghai Grand Theatre, which as a music major she loves so
much, with the man sitting next to her shaking his legs and eating loudly.
Besides etiquette, Kan also discusses dress and
table manners and many other issues in daily life.
Kan believes she has had ample experience of
etiquette across the world interviewing State leaders and monarchs of many
countries in her job as a TV producer.
The book, which Kan finished in more than a year's
time, is written in simple, easy language to make it accessible to as many
readers as possible.
Since coming off the press last month, it has
received rave reviews in the local Chinese language newspapers and was
number one in the non-art category book sales of mega bookstore Shanghai
Book City. People lined up to get Yue-sai Kan's autograph when she attended
a book launch at the Book City.
Yue-sai Kan became famous in China when she hosted
the weekly TV programme "One World" on China Central Television (CCTV)
in 1986.
Since then she has been very active in the
country. Her cosmetics company, founded in 1991, formed a $20-million joint
venture with cosmetics giant Coty in 1996.
Her image has graced both TV and street
billboards, making her a familiar face to lots of Chinese people.
- by Rousseau Chen SHANGHAI
STAR 2 June 2000
