The Founder and Visionary of Asia Adventures and Study Tours, Yue Chi, was born in Beijing in the early 1960s and was brought up in the Russian-influenced city of Harbin, in China's most northern province.

During the upheaval of the Cultural Revolution (1966-76), her family of academics and business executives was relocated to a remote village for “re-education”. As a result, her memories of childhood are framed by images of endless fields of soybean, snow-covered mud houses, horse-drawn carts and the Northern Star casting ghost-like shadows over piles of red sorghum stems.

As China recovered from the political turmoil in the late 1970s and the educational system was re-born, Ms. Chi, in 1980, won a much-prized placement to major in History at Nankai University in Tianjin, a port city 2,000 miles from her home. In 1984, she qualified for post-graduate studies at Beijing University, where she also received a teaching appointment in the History Department after receiving her Masters Degree in History.

Beijing University is the largest, oldest and most liberal university in China, and as such, attracted many foreign students, scholars and visitors. Yue, driven by her eagerness to connect with the outside World, was instrumental in establishing an educational program for foreigners, the “Chinese History and Culture Seminar at Beijing University”, to give visitors an appreciation for Chinese language, history, literature, art, cuisine, music and lifestyle, far beyond anything that could be gathered through normal tourist activities.

Since coming to North America in 1989, Yue has made a career of designing, promoting and operating enriched travel programs to China and other Asian destinations, with a special focus on exposure to cultural experiences and featuring real-life encounters. Her goal is to build bridges of understanding by way of her programs, which are designed especially to allow travellers to connect to other cultures on a very personal level. She is also the founder of Canada-China Adoption Services and Toronto Children's Mandarin Club. She has been a guest speaker to a number of professional organizations such the Kiwanis Club, Rotary Club, Canada-China Friendship Society, as well as over 20 Canadian Clubs cross the country.