Jin Xing Web Photo

Transsexual dancer and television celebrity Jin Xing is going to be at the People's Grand Theater in Shanghai for 10 days soon, hosting a talk show that promises to be captivating. Already, the television edition is slotted for telecast on satellite TV.

"The whole world knows what I have been through. This is my unique advantage. Those who come will be prepared to accept whatever I have to say," she says. "That's part of the reason I am confident my show will be a success."

Jin was born in 1967 and underwent transsexual surgery in 1995. She is one of the most famous modern dancers in China, and the founder and director of Jin Xing Modern Dance Company.

She speaks quickly, with a very expressive face and in a voice perhaps a bit too deep for a woman.

Standing gracefully and dressed in a colorful summer dress, the strong muscles in her legs tell of the intense physical training she has undergone as a dancer.

"I won't avoid speaking about my experience, which was extremely important for me. Without it I don't think I would have such confidence in myself."

Jin became a TV celebrity in 2011, when she was one of the judges on the Oriental TV show, Let's Shake It. She has been a judge on a few other TV shows in the past few years, and has gained a loyal following thanks to her acerbic tongue, as she boldly speaks her mind without considering the contestants' — or her own — embarrassment or the consequences for the show.

Jin says she always dreamed of having her own talk show, and friends in the industry have also seen the potential in her, and encouraged her to do it.

It started in 1991, when Jin was the choreographer for a TV station in Italy.

Jin Xing Web Photo

"I was passing by a studio when I saw a woman hosting a talk show," she says. "I told myself that one day, when I am back in China, I would also have my own talk show."

Looking back, Jin still marvels at her own ambition, but says, "Now the dream is coming true."

For more than 10 years she had hung on to this dream, waiting for the right time.

"Before, I needed the time for my children because they are still young."

Jin and her German husband have three adopted children, but now, she says, she is ready.

"I have experience and I have developed my own rhythm and style of speech," she says. "Once the curtains are drawn, I will know exactly what I should talk about."

She will speak from her own experience, her observations about certain social phenomena, and hopefully do interviews with guest stars, when the show becomes regular.

Jin Xing Web Photo

She is quick-witted, Jin says, which is useful for a live talk show host.

"I can't be an author because I lose my train of thought when I sit down. I am inspired when questioned."

She says she would be a great host for the annual spring festival gala show, which is telecast live each year on national TV.

Jin defines her personality as "true and direct", and she says she will not hold back.

"I think the core values of my show will be truthfulness, directness and quick-wittedness," she says.

Jin cites a story she just heard on radio about a university student beating up a man who was harassing a woman. The bad guy ended up in hospital while the student was detained by police.

"I will speak out about such cases of social injustice," she says.

Jin Xing Web Photo

She says her theater performances will be even bolder than the TV edition because "lots of the inappropriate words will be cut from the TV show".

Jin has done her homework and says she wants to present her show "American-style", after Oprah Winfrey, David Letterman or Ellen DeGeneres.

"You can't compare one host's show to another, because the personality defines each show. It's closely connected to life and experience.

"It is only convincing when you combine your own feelings and experiences with your own opinions on life and social phenomena," she says.

She is determined to develop a talk show unique to her, working with audiences in the theater.

It will be "something you won't find in Europe, America or any other Asian country. It is something starting right here in Shanghai".