Born in Kaiping County, Guangdong, Kwan travelled to San Francisco after studying English in Hong Kong.

Through 1920, Kwan provided consulting on Chinese subjects for Hollywood filmmakers, simultaneously publishing original and translated poetry.

During one 1933 trip, he met Joseph Sunn, with whom he established the Grandview Film Company and made Blossom Time (1933) – one of the first Cantonese-language talkies.

[3] Kwan found boarding at the Guang Ju Lung grocery store, owned by another Kaiping native, and received support from the Chinese diaspora community.

[5] Through the late 1910s, he lived a bohemian lifestyle, frequently associating with musicians, artists, and actors, and sitting for a series of portraits with Margrethe Mather in 1918.

Interested in presenting Chinese culture to his readers, Carr asked Kwan to produce articles retelling his childhood experiences.

[7] It is also through Carr that Kwan met the director D. W. Griffith, who was in the process of making Broken Blossoms (1919)[5] – a film based on a Thomas Burke story that depicts a Chinese man living in London.

[8] Kwan agreed to become a technical consultant, helping Richard Barthelmess depict the Chinese lead Cheng Huan while also providing feedback on the props and sets.

[12] The company also provided support for Isaac Upham when he produced a travel film based in China, which resulted in Kwan returning to the United States.

[11] Although Upham's film was unsuccessful, Kwan – through Anna May Wong,[13] whom he had met on the set of The City of Dim Faces[7] – became a technical consultant with MGM for Mr. Wu (1927).

[14] As the studio experienced financial difficulties, Kwan was dispatched to the United States to seek international distribution of its productions – including The 19th Route Army's Glorious Battle Against the Japanese Enemy and Humanity (both 1932) – and find investors.

Starring Kwan Tak-hing and Wu Dip-ying [zh], it followed two Cantonese opera singers who fall in love while touring in the United States.

[24] Due to the British government's efforts to avoid angering the Japanese,[22] it was initially banned in Hong Kong until Kwan had this injunction overturned;[10] the film was also shown in Chinatowns throughout North America.

[25] He subsequently directed a series of films with nationalist themes, including Resistant (1936), They'll Have Their Day (1936), Girl From West Lake (1937), For Duty's Sake (1937), and Enemy of Humanity (1938).

[26] Kwan made another trip to the United States in 1939, travelling with Tso Yee-man [zh] to sell Hillmoon films.

[15] Kwan identified and nurtured potential talent, with protégés including Lee Tit and Wong Toi later becoming major figures in Hong Kong cinema.

[34] Jason Lester of the University of Oregon describes The Jade Pagoda as the first English-language poetry collection penned by a person of Chinese descent.

[36] In 2024, Kwan was portrayed by Ron Song in Unbroken Blossoms, a play written by Philip W. Chung for the East West Players.

This work of historical fiction dramaticizes the experiences of Kwan and James B. Leong (played by Gavin K. Lee) as technical consultants for Griffith's Broken Blossoms.