????編者按：今年是中國改革開放40周年。中國日報推出系列專訪，報道那些經歷或見證這一重要進程的人物。

????靳羽西：將中國介紹給世界

????——靳羽西80年代的旅游節目打破常規，之后推出的化妝品系列激勵人心

????記者：王林艷

????如今，中國人去國外旅游、留學，在電影院看好萊塢大片，在網上購買國際時尚品牌，與世界各地的人做生意。但在32年前的1986年，中國人主要是通過看一檔電視節目——靳羽西制作并主持的《世界各地》，才看見外面的世界。

????《世界各地》每集時長15分鐘，每周用中文和英文各播一次，是中國第一檔電視旅游節目。它將西方社會面貌呈現給3億中國觀眾。觀眾從節目中看到了埃及的金字塔、希臘的雅典衛城、英國的泰晤士河和美國的棒球比賽，等等。

????這個節目還匯集了各種想法和各種社會問題。

????“在那個年代，我們在節目里討論生態問題、環境問題、窮人住房問題、瑞典婦女平權問題。我討論諸如此類的問題，這都是那個時候他們（中國人）從未想過的，”靳羽西說，“我的目標就是為中國人提供全球視野。”

????《世界各地》播放了一年，在中國中央電視臺共播出48集，內容涵蓋14個國家。它使靳羽西成為在中國擁有最多觀眾的電視名人。

????靳羽西說，最稱奇的事是，在她的節目播出之前，這么多中國人從未看到過外面的世界。她說，這個節目改變了中國人的“視野和心態”。

????“很多中國人對我說，‘我從來都不知道外面的世界原來是這樣的。你真地啟發了我’。有時候我走在紐約街頭，會有女性過來對我說，‘我想要謝謝你。因為你啟發了我，我才來到這里’。”

????《世界各地》使靳羽西成為焦點人物，她不僅贏得了媒體報道的盛贊，而且收到了觀眾無數的來信。一家雜志稱她為“當代的馬可·波羅”，《紐約時報》則寫道：“靳羽西的節目對中國、美國乃至世界其他地方都有積極意義。”

????“在去年幾次對中國的訪問中，我感受到了中國人極大的熱情和喜愛，就好像我是一個回國探親的親戚，或是一個久未謀面的朋友。”靳羽西在她同樣名為《世界各地》的回憶錄中寫道。“每到一處，中國人給予我的真真切切的溫暖都令我深深感動。”

????《世界各地》這本書于1987年出版，寫作的起因是當時的廣播電影電視部部長艾知生請她寫本關于怎樣制作電視節目的書。“他說，我們不知道如何制作電視節目，這本書能教會中國人怎么做。”靳羽西回憶道。當時中央電視臺每天只播出6個小時的節目，所以她覺得“這是我聽過的最棒的事情之一了”。

????在《世界各地》得到官方批準之前，靳羽西需要做三個樣片。為了盡力表現得“非常禮貌”，她學著當時電視上中國記者的著裝風格，在樣片中穿了一件襯衫，配黑色外套，畫了淡妝。靳羽西回憶道，艾部長看了樣片后問她：“你在美國主持節目也這么穿嗎？”他鼓勵她在中國主持節目跟在美國主持節目一樣，“因為我們想向你學習”。

????“那種感覺太棒了，”靳羽西笑著說。

????賦予女性能力

????《世界各地》播出之后，靳羽西便成了中國家喻戶曉的人物。

????她的經典發型——被稱為羽西頭——和她的西式妝容與服飾令上世紀八十年代的中國人著迷。那時候人們的穿衣風格類似，看起來也一樣，留著短發，不化妝。

????“那時，在嘴唇上涂口紅著實是個怪異的想法。那時候只有女演員才涂口紅。現在，在嘴唇上涂口紅就跟早晨把牙膏擠到牙刷上一樣平常，”靳羽西在她紐約公寓里進行的一個采訪中說。

????靳羽西于1992年9月在上海推出了第一批羽西品牌化妝品產品系列，這是她在廣東深圳注冊了一家公司兩年后。

????專柜開幕儀式在上海第一百貨商店舉行。當天，商店內擠滿了想要看靳羽西的人們，人多得讓警察難以維持秩序。靳羽西不得不把活動挪到一個更大的場地——華聯商廈，她在那里與粉絲交流，并向他們示范怎樣化妝。羽西品牌專柜首日銷售額達到2萬人民幣（當時約3千6百美元）。

????“這就像是一縷新鮮空氣，就像我們的電視節目，”靳羽西回憶道，“我們用顏色裝點了整個國家。這讓人感到愉悅——你可以有自己個人的打扮，你不需要跟其他人一樣。你就是你。我們的想法是賦能。這種精神比其他任何事情都更重要。”

????中國化妝品市場的潛力隨著改革開放的進程得到了釋放。靳羽西的化妝品公司從最初的上海3家店擴張到中國250個城市的800多家店，在市場份額和銷售額方面，公司很多年都位居行業第一。

????“我們的銷售額是百貨商店其他柜臺的十倍。我們的影響力很大。并且這種影響力賦能于女性，”靳羽西說。

????此后，她從1200位中國申請者中挑選出30位參加化妝技巧課程。這些人是中國第一批美容顧問，他們在銷售化妝品時為顧客化妝，與他們分享化妝技巧。

????“在我的化妝品面市之前，中國人從未聽說過‘時尚’這個詞。我們將時尚帶到了中國。這時，中國女性開始說‘我想變漂亮’。這是中國時尚的開始，”她說。

????如同《世界各地》電視節目，靳羽西的化妝品也影響了數百萬中國女性，遠在互聯網來臨之前。

????靳羽西說社會發生改變的原因很簡單。

????“第一，中國政府想要改變。他們想要在多個方面發生改變，他們想要改革開放，”她說。“但是如果人們對外部世界一無所知，你怎么能開放呢？所以他們很聰明，他們用電視……他們想用電視來教育人們。這是最重要的。”

????第二個原因是，中國人已經準備好迎接改變，她說。“我曾擔心有人會說我做的事對中國是有害的。我非常害怕。但事實恰恰相反，因為中國女性已經準備好要讓自己看起來不同。”

????靳羽西說，關鍵詞是“準備好”。她補充道，她只是在合適的時間出現在合適的地點。

????“人們很好奇，他們也準備好了，而我剛好是做事的那個人。一切都是恰到好處，”她說。“如果我現在制作一個新的電視節目，它不會有當時那么大的影響力。如果我今天推出新的化妝品，它也不會有當時那么大的影響力。它們會很成功，但是不會有當時那么大的影響力。”

????中國游記

????獲獎周播電視節目《看東方》在美國播出之后，靳羽西被譽為第一個連接東方和西方的電視記者。這是她制作的第一檔主要節目，也是第一檔向美國觀眾介紹包括泰國、馬來西亞和新加坡等亞洲國家文化的節目。

????靳羽西發現西方人對亞洲，尤其是對中國，不甚了解。她認為幫助美國和中國更好地了解彼此是她的職責。她在1988年制作并主持了一部電視記錄片，名叫《變化中的中國》。

????靳羽西從她的家鄉廣西壯族自治區的桂林開始，北上到上海、杭州，最后來到中國東北黑龍江省哈爾濱市。每到一個城市，她都拍了紀錄片來展現當地人的日常生活，以及他們在改革開放過程中所經歷的變化。

????1988年6月22日，這部時長一個小時的紀錄片在華盛頓的WUSA-TV電視臺播出。為了成為連接中美溝通之橋，靳羽西付出了種種努力。她的努力獲得了美國國會的認可，被載入《參議院國會記錄》，同時她還被授予“平民大使”稱號。1988年7月27日的《參議院國會記錄》寫道，該節目“在規模和主題上都是無與倫比的”。

????“靳羽西的紀錄片讓我們開了眼界，里面介紹的好多地方我們之前都只是在書里讀到過，”美國參議員Daniel K. Inouye在記錄中寫道。“她對中國的描繪充滿魅力、深度和熱愛，讓我對這片古老土地正在發生的變化有了新的認識。”

????“我希望《變化中的中國》也能被美國其他地方的觀眾看到，因為它對于中國改革開放帶來的社會、經濟和文化方面的變化的研究令人著迷、給人啟發。”

????回顧過去，靳羽西說，她認為她的角色以及媒體的作用就是教育。

????“那個時候，......,中國不了解世界。西方不了解亞洲，”她說。“我的角色就是促進東方西方之間的思想交流。我覺得這是一項使命，是一個重要的工作。”

????將中國時尚出口到西方

????在上世紀八十年代初，涂著口紅、留著自己獨創發型的靳羽西在中國女性眼里是獨樹一幟。然而今天，在靳羽西眼里，中國女性看起來很現代，打扮與西方女性沒什么不同。

????靳羽西說，中國已經改變了很多，因為中國服裝生產商都在時尚一線。中國服裝生產商為法國和意大利等國家的品牌服務多年。今天，她說，中國公司都有了自己的品牌。

????“因為他們長期為外面的世界制造商品，他們非常清楚外面的世界要什么。然后突然之間，你看到很多時髦精致的品牌在中國出現，”靳羽西說。

????為了將中國時尚帶到西方，讓美國了解中國設計新秀和藝術新秀，靳羽西在紐約首創了“中國時尚盛典”活動。

????過去三屆中國時尚盛典重點推出了幾位中國新秀，比如定制時裝設計師郭培、時尚攝影師陳漫和設計師陳野槐。

????“中國時尚盛典”活動中籌集的資金還用作獎學金，專門提供給在紐約時裝學院就讀的中國學生。

????靳羽西設立的慈善基金會在中國修建學校和圖書館，設立獎學金資助中國高中和大學里的貧困學生，包括她的家鄉桂林一所學校的學生。她兩歲的時候離開家鄉。她和父母先搬到香港生活，后來搬到美國生活。

????今年三月，靳羽西第一次回到她出生的地方——雁山園，這座清朝風格的建筑如今已成為一座風景如畫的公園。

????靳羽西說，看到家鄉和中國發生的發展她感到高興。

????“中國下個階段的發展將會令人驚奇。習近平主席將會完成他的使命，也會實現他的愿景，”她說。她指的是中國提出的在2020年全面建成小康社會的目標，以及習主席在博鰲亞洲論壇上所做的中國進一步開放的承諾。

????“我相信中國會成功，”靳羽西說。

????原文：

????TV HOST AND FASHION ICON WHO INTRODUCED CHINA TO THE WORLD

????Yue-Sai Kan broke the mold with her '80s travel show before launching an inspirational cosmetics line

????WANG LINYAN

????Editor's note: This year marks the 40th anniversary of the launch of China's reform and opening-up policy. China Daily profiles people who experienced or witnessed the important drive.

????Today, Chinese people travel and study abroad, watch blockbusters at cinemas, order international fashion brands online, and do business with people from other countries.

????But 32 years ago, in 1986, Chinese people mainly saw the outside world only by watching television at home－starting with Yue-Sai Kan's One World.

????The 15-minute show, which aired twice a week in Chinese and later in English, was the first travel program on Chinese TV. It brought Western society to an audience of 300 million Chinese.

????Viewers saw the pyramids in Egypt, the Acropolis in Greece, the River Thames in Britain, baseball games in the United States, and much more. The show was also packed with ideas and issues.

????"In those early years, we talked about ecological problems, environmental problems, housing for the poor, equal rights for women in Sweden. I talked about things like that, which they (Chinese people) hadn't even started to think about at that time," Kan said. "The goal was to give a global view to the Chinese audience."

????The show lasted a year, running for 48 episodes on China Central Television, the State broadcaster, and covering 14 countries. It made Kan the most-watched TV personality in the country.

????The most remarkable part, Kan said, was that so many Chinese had not seen anything about the outside world before her program. It changed "the vision and mindset" of the Chinese people, she said.

????"So many people would say to me, ‘I never knew the outside world was like this. You really inspired me.' Sometimes when I walked in New York, women would come up to me and say, ‘I want to thank you. I'm here because you inspired me to do this.'"

????The program put her in the spotlight, winning rave reviews in the media and countless letters from fans. One magazine called her a modern-day Marco Polo, while The New York Times wrote, "Yue-Sai Kan's work augurs well not only for China and the US but also for the rest of the world."

????"During my trips to China in the past year, I have been greeted with such great hospitality and affection, as if I were a returning relative or a long-separated friend," Kan wrote in her memoirs, also titled One World. "Everywhere I went, I was deeply touched by the genuine warmth I encountered."

????The book, published in 1987, came after Ai Zhisheng, then minister of radio, television and film, asked her to write about how she made the TV program.

????"He said, ‘We don't know how to make TV shows. This book will teach the Chinese people how to,'" she recalled. At the time, CCTV broadcast for just six hours a day, "so that's one of the most outstanding things I'd heard", she added.

????Before the One World TV show received a green light from the authorities, Kan had to do three pilot shows. She wore a shirt and black jacket and little makeup, trying to "be very polite" and following the style of Chinese broadcast journalists of the day.

????Kan recalled that, after watching the pilots, Ai asked her, "Did you dress like that in the US?" He encouraged her to present the program like she would in the US, "because we want to learn from you".

????"That's amazing, you know," Kan said with a grin.

????Empowering women

????The show made Kan a household name. Her trademark haircut－known as the Yue-Sai hairdo－and her Western makeup and clothes fascinated people in the '80s, when women dressed in a similar style and looked the same, with short haircuts and no makeup.

????"It was really an alien idea to smear lipstick on your lips. Only actresses at that time used lipstick. Now it's as common as adding toothpaste to your toothbrush in the morning," she said in an interview at her New York apartment.

????Kan launched her first cosmetics products under her Yue-Sai brand in September 1992 in Shanghai, two years after she had registered a company in Shenzhen, Guangdong province.

????The product launch at Shanghai No 1 Department Store was so crowded with people wanting to see Kan that police found it virtually impossible to maintain control. The event had to be moved to a bigger venue, Hualian Department Store, where Kan was able to talk with fans and show them how to apply the makeup.

????Sales on the first day hit 20,000 yuan (about $3,600 at the time).

????"It was like a breath of fresh air, just like in television," Kan recalled. "We basically colorized the whole country. This is happy－you can have your individual look. You don't have to look like anybody else. You are you. So the idea is empowerment. The spirit is more important than anything else."

????The potential for China's cosmetics market was released with the country's opening-up. Kan's company expanded from three stores in Shanghai to more than 800 in 250 cities across China, becoming No 1 in both market share and sales for years.

????"We were doing 10 times the business anyone else was in the department stores. The impact was very big. And it empowered women," Kan said.

????She went on to select 30 people from 1,200 applicants for a course teaching them makeup skills. They became China's first beauty advisers, doing makeovers for customers and sharing makeup tips while selling cosmetics.

????"Before my cosmetics came out, the Chinese had never heard the word shishang (fashion). We brought fashion to China. That's the beginning of saying ‘I want to look beautiful'. That was the beginning of Chinese fashion."

????Like the TV program, Kan's cosmetics influenced millions of Chinese, well before the arrival of the internet.

????Kan said the reasons for the changes in society were simple.

????"No 1, the Chinese government wanted to change it. They wanted change in a number of ways. They wanted reform and opening-up," she said. "But how can you open when your citizens don't know anything about the outside world? So they are very smart. They used TV.… They wanted to use it to educate people. That's the most important thing."

????The second reason was that the Chinese people were ready for change, she said. "I was afraid that someone would come up and say what I did was really bad for China. I was really scared. But it was the opposite because Chinese women were ready to look different."

????The key word is "ready", Kan said, adding that she was simply in the right place at the right time.

????"People were curious. People were ready, and I happened to be the person to do it. Everything was just right," she said. "If I were to produce a new TV program now, it would not have the same impact. If I launched a cosmetics line today, it would not be as impactful. It would be very successful, but it wouldn't have that impact."

????Journey to China

????Kan is also credited as being the first TV journalist to connect East and West with the creation of her award-winning weekly show Looking East, which aired in the US. The program was her first major production and the first of its kind to introduce American audiences to Asian cultures in countries including Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.

????Having observed that the West didn't know much about Asia, particularly China, Kan believed it was her duty to help the United States and China get to know each other better. She also produced and hosted a documentary in 1988 called Journey Through a Changing China.

????Starting from her hometown in Guilin, in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, she crisscrossed northward to Shanghai and Hangzhou, in Zhejiang province, until she reached Harbin in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang. Footage was shot in each city she visited, to display people's daily lives and how they had changed during reform and opening-up.

????The one-hour documentary aired on June 22, 1988, on WUSA-TV in Washington.

????Kan's efforts to be a bridge between China and the US were recognized in a Senate Congressional Record, and she was given the title of citizen ambassador. The record entry dated July 27, 1988, said the documentary was "exceptional in its scope and subject".

????"Kan opened doors in her documentary to places most of us have only read about," Senator Daniel K. Inouye wrote in the record. "Her charming, insightful and loving portrait of China gave me a new perspective toward the changes now occurring in that ancient land.

????"I hope that Journey Through a Changing China will be seen by other audiences throughout our nation because of its fascinating and revealing study of the social, economic and cultural changes being brought about by China's version of the glasnost."

????Looking back, Kan said she felt her role, and that of the media as a whole, was to educate.

????"In those days,... China didn't know anything about the world. The West knew nothing about Asia," she said. "My role was to exchange ideas between East and West. I feel that's a mission, an important job to do."

????Exporting homegrown fashion

????In the early 1980s, Kan looked different with her lipstick and self-styled hairdo in the eyes of Chinese women. But today, in her eyes, Chinese women look modern, and they no longer dress differently to Western women.

????Kan said China has changed a lot, as now its manufacturers are up-to-date. For years, they worked for brands from other countries, such as France and Italy. Today, she said, Chinese companies have their own brands.

????"Because they're so used to producing goods for the outside world, they know well what the outside world is asking for. All of a sudden, you see a lot of brands coming out of China that are quite chic," Kan said.

????To bring Chinese fashion to the West and introduce emerging designers and artists to the US, Kan created the China Fashion Gala in New York. The past three galas have highlighted couture designer Guo Pei, fashion photographer Chen Man and designer Grace Chen, to name a few.

????Funds raised through the gala are used for scholarships for Chinese students to attend the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York.

????Kan's own charity has also built schools and libraries, and provided scholarships to underprivileged students in high schools and universities in China, including in her native Guilin, where she lived until she was 2 years old. Her family first moved to Hong Kong and then the US.

????In March, she returned for the first time to where she was born, a Qing Dynasty-style building called Yanshan Garden, which has been made into a picturesque park.

????Kan said she was happy to see the development that has taken place in her hometown and across China.

????"The next period for China will be extraordinary. President Xi Jinping will be able to fulfill his mission, fulfill his vision, too," she said, referring to China's goal to become a moderately well-off country by 2020 as well as Xi's commitment at the Boao Asia Forum on China to further opening-up. "I'd bet on China," she said.