Jesse Millett

B.A., Asian Studies, University of Colorado, Boulder
A.A., Simon’s Rock College of Bard, Massachusetts

Jesse has worked with Dragons since 2011, instructing eleven courses in China and Southeast Asia, including serving as the On-Site Director for Princeton Bridge Year China since 2013.

Jesse has had a genuine interest in Asian cultures, and specifically China, ever since he first visited Yunnan in 2004. Following a lead from his uncle, he participated in an exhibition of his grandfather’s photographs, the earliest known color photographs taken in China in 1944. This trip not only sparked his fascination with China and Yunnan, but also a long lasting friendship with the people of Kunming.

Returning to Kunming over a dozen times since then, Jesse now sees Kunming as his home. Though the urban landscape is ever changing, and he is often heard reminiscing about, “old Kunming,” the relationships and experiences he has developed there only continue to grow and deepen his connection with the city itself.

In 2007, Jesse received his Bachelors in Asian Studies, with a special focus on the effects of tourism on ethnic groups in northwest Yunnan. Jesse  returned to China frequently since his first trip to live, study, work and volunteer, and now enjoys nothing more than sharing these experiences and his passion of China with his students.

Along with his interest in China and travel, Jesse is also an avid cyclist. He has worked as a guide, leading self-sustaining cycle tours in the US and Canada. In 2011, he completed a 4000-mile cycle tour from Kunming to Singapore to help promote non-governmental relations between Kunming and the countries of Southeast Asia. Jesse is a certified Wilderness First Responder and also enjoys soccer, mountaineering, backcountry skiing and snowboarding, and especially hanging out with his three year old son, nicknamed “小飞虎 or Little Flying Tiger”