Janet Hsieh
Hsieh in 2018
Born
Janet Josephine Hsieh

(1980-01-20) January 20, 1980
Houston, Texas, United States
Occupation(s)Host, model, violinist
Years active2002-present
Spouse
​
(m. 2015)​
Children2
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese謝怡芬
Simplified Chinese谢怡芬
Hanyu PinyinXiè Yífēn
Wade–GilesHsieh4 I2 Fen1
Hokkien POJSiā î-Hun

Janet Josephine Hsieh (Chinese: 謝怡芬; pinyin: Xiè Yífēn; born January 20, 1980) is a Taiwanese-American television personality, model, and violinist based in Taipei, Taiwan. She is the host of the Discovery Travel and Living Channel's long-running series Fun Taiwan.[1] The program is currently in its 16th season and has expanded to include Fun Asia, Fun Taiwan Challenge ,Fun Taiwan All Stars, and Aquachallenge. She has been nominated four times and won once for the Taiwanese Golden Bell Awards as Best Host of a Travel Program, and once for Best Host of a Variety Program.[2][3]

Early life and education

Hsieh was born on January 20, 1980, in Houston, Texas, where she was raised.[4] Her father hails from Kaohsiung and her mother from Taipei. She has one elder sister.[5] She graduated from Bellaire Senior High School in 1997.

In 2001, Hsieh graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and Spanish.[6] During her time at MIT, she was a member of the Alpha Chi Omega women's fraternity and served on the university's Ring Committee, the group responsible for designing the MIT class ring.[7] She also ran the Boston Marathon during this time.[3]

She also studied at the Universidad de Buenos Aires in Argentina and at the University of California, Los Angeles in California.

Hsieh commands English (native speaker), Chinese (with fluency in both Mandarin and Taiwanese) as well as Spanish conversationally and some basic French.

Career

Volunteer and EMT

After graduation from college, Hsieh spent time in Jamshedpur as a community outreach volunteer with Tata Steel Rural Development Society (TSRDS).[7] She also received certification as an EMT from Boston EMS/MIT, and in September 2001 went to Taiwan for a medical residential internship,[8] where she completed a six-month stint at Taipei Veterans General Hospital in Tienmu.[7][3]

Modeling

In 2002, at the end of her medical internship, Hsieh met Jeff Huang of the Taiwanese rap group L.A. Boyz outside the popular Taipei nightclub, Room 18. On recommendations from Huang, Hsieh landed an underwear commercial and modeling contract soon after.[9]

Television

In 2005, Hsieh auditioned for a new Discovery Travel and Living television series exploring the island of Taiwan, entitled Fun Taiwan.[1][8] Since landing the role, she has been nominated four times for Best Host in a Travel Program at the Golden Bell Awards, achieving a win in 2011, and has been one of the longest running series on Discovery Channel's TLC (Asia).[10]

Music

Hsieh learned to play the violin at age five and was part of the Texas Young Virtuosos, who played at the White House for President George Bush and in Europe.[11][12] In Taiwan, she has performed three concerts at the National Concert Hall, twice in 2011 and again in 2013.[7][12][13] She also played as one of 4,645 participants at Changhua Stadium in 2011, joining Changhua County youth to set a Guinness World Record for "Largest Violin Ensemble."[14]

Author

Hsieh published her first Chinese-language travel book, Traveling with 100 Toothbrushes,[15][16] in 2010. She has since published two additional travel-related titles, Backpack to the Future[17] and Au for You,[18] as well as two English learning books, Janet's Funtastic English[19] and j@net.com.[20]

In 2016, Hsieh and her husband George Young co-authored the book Starting at The End (Chinese language title: "在世界的盡頭說：我願意").[21] The book shares their sometimes conflicting stories on how they met, as well as their fifty-day journey through Texas, Argentina, and through to their wedding in Antarctica.[22][23]

Personal life

Hsieh married George Young in January 2015.[24] They have two sons, one born in 2017 and the other in 2021.[25]

Hsieh achieved a black belt in Taekwondo[6] and trained as a sushi chef[11] and circus performer in the past.[11][8][1]

Filmography

Hosting

Hsieh has served as the host of numerous programs on Discovery Travel and Living, including Fun Taiwan,[1] as well as programs on local Taiwanese television networks, such as Aqua Challenge.[9]

Acting

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2013 Frozen (2013 film) Anna (Taiwanese Dub) Animated Film [26]
2015 Constellation Women: Aries Chen Yin-Hsiu TV Series; 10 episodes
2017 High 5 Basketball Lin Chia-Lu TV Series; 13 episodes
2018 A Bread Factory Part One May Film
A Bread Factory Part Two May Film
20 Zhi Hou Wei Han-Jen TV Series;
2019 Big Three Dragons Hotel Manager Film
Mechanical Souls Ah-hui Film
Deja Vu Janet TV Series; 1 episode
2020 Adventure of the Ring TV Series; 1 episode
The Ghost Bride (TV series) Hsiao Yu TV Series; 4 episodes
2021 Shen Chin Hsiang Yeh Yun TV Series; 6 episodes
Malignant (2021 film) Nurse J D Marco
2023 Love in Taipei Aunt Claire

Music videos

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Taiwan Tourism Bureau. "Janet Hsieh, Host of the Popular Local Travel Show "Fun Taiwan" Shares Her Taiwan Experience Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine" Retrieved 10 September 2013.
  2. ↑ Janet returns to MIT
  3. 1 2 3 Shao-Fei Moy (23 April 1999) "The 103rd Boston Marathon" (pdf) The Tech. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
  4. ↑ Hsu, Jenny W. (9 September 2008). "Community Compass: PROFILE:Janet Hsieh finds fun and unexpected opportunities". Taipei Times. Retrieved February 2, 2015.
  5. ↑ "SCMP Promote". Archived from the original on 2019-06-11. Retrieved 2016-03-21.
  6. 1 2 Toh, Christopher."Jetsetting with Janet Hsieh" Archived 2011-01-08 at the Wayback Machine,TODAY online, Dec 04, 2010. Retrieved on 12/02/2011.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Jill Hecht Maxwell (18 June 2013) "Janet Hsieh '01: Television host's star is rising in Asia MIT News Magazine. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
  8. 1 2 3 Fun Taiwan's Janet Hsieh Archived 2010-07-03 at the Wayback Machine, Clive Magazine,Updated: 01/07/2009
  9. 1 2 Catherine Shu (26 August 2010) "Janet Takes Off" Taipei Times. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
  10. ↑ Grace Soong (22 October 2011) "Wilber Pan, Tien Hsin win Golden Bells" The China Post. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
  11. 1 2 3 Koh, Bernard."But I speak only five languages" Archived 2011-07-07 at the Wayback Machine,The Straits Times, Mon, Jun 02, 2008. Retrieved on 12/02/2011.
  12. 1 2 Janet Hsieh to perform violin at a music concert in Taipei January 27, 2011 – trio Janet, Jean & Mareill
  13. ↑ Yali Chen (9 February 2011) "Discovery travel show host to play violin in two concerts" Taiwan News. Retrieved 10 September 2013
  14. ↑ Guinness World Records News. (19 October 2011) "Largest Violin Ensemble Record Set by Children in Taiwan" Retrieved 10 September 2013.
  15. ↑ "Bringing 100 toothbrush to travel".
  16. ↑ Janet帶100支牙刷去旅行. 高寶國際. 2009. ISBN 9789861853574.
  17. ↑ 謝怡芬 (2011). 愛上旅行的理由. 凱特文化. ISBN 9789866175282.
  18. ↑ (表演藝術), 謝怡芬 (2013). Au for you kuai le de mi mi. 凯特文化创意股份有限公司. ISBN 9789865882105.
  19. ↑ 謝怡芬; Janet (2012). Janet的英語遊樂園: 不用教科書, 英語嘛A通. 捷徑文化出版. ISBN 9789866010125.
  20. ↑ Janet的英文冒險世界: 好膽你就來挑戰!. 捷徑出版. 2013. ISBN 9789866010637.
  21. ↑ "在世界的盡頭說：我願意 －金石堂".
  22. ↑ "（影音）Janet狠心打槍做人 老公遭拒竟是這原因 - 自由娛樂". 4 December 2016.
  23. ↑ "老公唱《新不了情》邀做人 逼Janet生３胎 ｜ 蘋果新聞網 ｜ 蘋果日報". 4 December 2016.
  24. ↑ Cheng, Sabine; Chang, Maubo (31 January 2015). "TV presenter Janet Hsieh gets married in Antarctica". Central News Agency. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  25. ↑ "Janet Hsieh, George Young welcome second child". sg.style.yahoo.com. 24 February 2021. Retrieved 2021-09-18.
  26. ↑ "阿Ken《冰雪奇緣》配音示愛 Janet羞認曾一見鍾情" The China Times. 22 November 2013. Retrieved 25 December 2013.
  27. ↑ Yen-j "Sneezing"
  28. ↑ Mayday. "3 Idiots"
  29. ↑ Leehom Wang. "What's Wrong with Rock?!"
  30. ↑ Nicky Lee. "Setting You Free"
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