Michelle Garnaut [Photo provided to China Daily]

M on the Bund opened in 1999, and Capital M followed in 2006. In addition to the "good food and drink" mission of the restaurants and the recently opened Glam bar in Shanghai, Garnaut has fostered her M Group venues as places where music, literature and the arts would have a home, from literary and music festivals to the M Literary Residency. She's also the co-founder of the Village People Project, which aims to improve the lives and health of villagers in rural China through the creation of solar-powered bathhouses, and a supporter of Educating Girls in Rural China, which helps girls in rural Gansu province obtain an education. In Beijing and Shanghai, she spearheads Mentor Walks, where up-and-coming professional women can seek advice from experienced mentors on monthly morning walks.

It all started with a popup in Shanghai 20 years ago.

"That's going to be on my tombstone," she says, laughing. " That, and 'She brought pavlova to China'."

Contact the writer at michaelpeters@chinadaily.com.cn