Chinese Beauty yue-Sai Kan, Presenting Chinese Women to the World

IN the airport of Sao Paulo, Brazil, the local paparazzi heaved, surged and clambered over each other to get a bankable shot of the two fashion icons who had just arrived in the country. A familiar tale, yes, but these two women had not come from the catwalks of Milan; rather, they were two glamour envoys of an increasingly cosmopolitan China. Yue-Sai Kan, director of the Miss Universe China Pageant, and her protégé, 2011 Miss Universe China winner Luo Zilin, received a star welcome as they touched down for the Miss Universe Pageant Final in September last year.

Last year was the 60th anniversary of the Pageant, and attending made Yue-Sai Kan think back to her own pageant debut when, at 19, she entered the daffodil beauty contest in Hawaii. The event changed her life and greatly influenced her choosing a career in the beauty industry.

Yue-Sai Kan was born in Guilin, Guangxi Province. Today she is ChineseAmerican, having lived stateside for close to four decades. In addition to hosting TV shows on China and Western cultural fusion, she established her own cosmetics brand and has written many books on beauty.

Nowadays, she is busy preparing for

Yue-Sai Kan, as founder of Yuesai cosmetics, is a legendary figure in Chinese fashion, and she has become a brand in herself. When she was offered the post of director of Miss Universe China, she took to the new role with great brio, having previously been a judge at two of the pageants. Yue-Sai says she relishes balancing her beauty business commitments with the responsibilities of running Miss Universe China.

Since starting in 1952, the annual Miss Universe Pageant, has been one of the most influential beauty contests worldwide. Through its broadcasting partner, NBC, the pageant is aired in 160 countries, and commands a large cultural influence. China has been sending contestants to the Miss Universe Pageant world final annually since 2002. Owing to lackluster English language abilities and poor performances in the artistic categories of the pageant, however, Chinese contestants had never gained a top placing at the pageant.

“China has a population of over 1.3 billion, and we know there are multitudes of talented, charming and beautiful Chinese women out there waiting to be discovered. We just need to find them,” Yue-Sai says. She is adamant that if beauty contest training in China can be brought up to world standards, Chinese women can excel at international pageants and in doing so promote the image of Chinese women abroad. She says that to this end winning or just competing in Miss Universe and other beauty contests are perhaps even more effective than expanding the reach of Chinese films and China tourism campaigns.

In the past, movies and books were the mediums through which the majority of people came to know Chinese women. Chinese women often fell into several stereotypical roles, such as the “ferocious dragon girl” and the “weak and torn wife.”

Luo Zilin was China’s representative at the Miss Universe Pageant Final in Sao Paulo last year. She placed an admirable fifth, the best-ever result for a Chinese contestant. Prior to her efforts, a Chinese woman had never entered the last round of the pageant final.

Although Luo Zilin didn’t win, she was the viewers’ favorite according to many website polls. Last year was the first time a Chinese contestant has drawn wide attention at the pageant.

“I hope Chinese contestants can continue Luo Zilin’s outstanding example and project a new image for Chinese women – capable, refined and beautiful,”Yue-Sai says. In her opinion, a beauty contest is not merely a competition about physical beauty, but a platform to demonstrate female inner and outer beauty, and project a national female image.

Universe Pageant China is to encourage philanthropy. Giving is also one of YueSai’s own guiding missions. Perhaps influenced by her American education, Yue-Sai has been a lifelong devotee to charity. When she was young, she would often set aside part of her pocket money or part-time wage for charitable causes.

In 2011, Yue-Sai co-sponsored with the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation the founding of the China Beauty Fund. She is CEO and image ambassador of the fund, the major aim of which is to improve the lives of impoverished women and girls.

Last year, the China Beauty Fund managed to raise RMB 10 millionat one charitable banquet. According to YueSai, the money is to be devoted to several public welfare initiatives, including the Project for Mother and Infant Safety, co-initiated by the Soong Ching Ling Foundation and China Welfare Institute. The project aims to ameliorate the high maternal and newborn mortality rate in China’s least-developed areas. Part of the donation will also go to China’s Guangxi and Yunnan in support of local hospitals’purchasing sorely needed medical equipment, staff training and providing emergency medical assistance.

Another of the China Beauty Fund’s important philanthropic programs is the“Smile Project,” which aims to extend medical treatment to Chinese children with cleft lips and palates. The project is part of a worldwide initiative sponsored by the Miss Universe Organization. In China, thousands of children receive aid for surgical procedures thanks to the scheme.

Inspired by Miss Universe China’s slogan “celebrating Chinese women!” YueSai proposed setting up scholarships for outstanding Chinese women in various fields. For the 15th Shanghai International Film Festival in June this year, the China Beauty Fund sponsored several young female directors to shoot four to six micro-films focusing on the topic,“growth / gratitude / care.” It included a discussion about the fortunes of Chinese female directors.

Philanthropic organizations are fairly new in China. Compared with the century-old history of charity in the West, most of China’s charities have only been around a few decades. Despite the gathering pace of philanthropy, some of China’s charities have been regarded with suspicion