Janet Hsieh

Janet Josephine Hsieh (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.

Hsieh was born on January 20, 1980, in Houston, Texas, where she was raised.

Her father hails from Kaohsiung and her mother from Taipei.

She has one elder sister.

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.

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.

She also ran the Boston Marathon during this time.

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.

After graduation from college, Hsieh spent time in Jamshedpur as a community outreach volunteer with Tata Steel Rural Development Society (TSRDS).

She also received certification as an EMT from Boston EMS/MIT, and in September 2001 went to Taiwan for a medical residential internship, where she completed a six-month stint at Taipei Veterans General Hospital in Tienmu.

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.

In 2005, Hsieh auditioned for a new Discovery Travel and Living television series exploring the island of Taiwan, entitled Fun Taiwan.

Hsieh published her first Chinese-language travel book, Traveling with 100 Toothbrushes, in 2010.

She has since published two additional travel-related titles, Backpack to the Future and Au for You, as well as two English learning books, Janet's Funtastic English and j@net.com.

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).

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.

In Taiwan, she has performed three concerts at the National Concert Hall, twice in 2011 and again in 2013.

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."

Hsieh married George Young in January 2015.

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.

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").

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.

They have two sons, one born in 2017 and the other in 2021.

Hsieh achieved a black belt in Taekwondo and trained as a sushi chef and circus performer in the past.

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