It’s not often business owners hope more businesses like theirs open up nearby, but one businesswoman has a mission: to spread good health.

And Mei Bi, 47, is just getting started in that goal with her new Kirkland business, Green E Juice.

“You have to share,” Bi said. “It’s more beautiful.”

Bi rang in her new business at the grand opening of Green E Juice on Feb. 7. The celebration was abundant in Chinese tiger performers, samples of green smoothies and soup, and a packed house to welcome Bi to Kirkland.

The grand opening was a success, she said.

But getting to that point might have seemed like a world away seven years ago as Bi faced a dire circumstance. Her husband was in 24/7 hospital care for six weeks without much hope.

“He had [tuberculosis] in his brain,” she said. “It was so severe, no remedy.”

His doctors told Bi to call their family in China and make arrangements for them to visit.

Refusing to give up, Bi helped her husband to drastically change his diet. Juicing and soup was the cure and he started to get better.

“It made me think about health and sickness,” Bi said. “[There’s] so many health problems. [In] Chinese culture, you are what you eat.”

Bi and her husband operated two Grand Peking restaurants, one in Federal Way and another in Redmond, and had worked in the business for 15 years after immigrating from China in 1991. During that time, Bi also put herself through culinary school.

However, in 2010 ­­ after her husband got better, they made the decision to sell the Federal Way location so Bi could focus on dedicating herself to Green E Juice.

“I needed to open a healthy restaurant to give people more options,” she said.

Originally interested in opening Green E Juice in Bellevue or Seattle where there’s a bigger population, she was pleasantly surprised with the small space on Kirkland Avenue, where her business is now located.

After looking at the area, the paperwork was signed within a week.

“[The] area makes me feel really good energy, here,” she said.

Bi’s Kirkland customers are right in line with her mission of health and have even surprised her with their knowledge in healthy eating.

Bi asserts that people who solely eat from Green E Juice for one week will feel different, have more energy and feel less hungry, as one cup of The Balance smoothie is equal to four cups of water.

The Balance smoothie, which is made with fresh apple, carrot, spinach, orange, celery, avocado, banana, ice and water is the best way to wake up in the morning and should be eaten on an empty stomach, she said.

And knowing what ingredients it takes to make a tasty smoothie, while still maintaining the nutritional benefits of fruits and vegetables, is what drives Bi in her quest to spread health. Bi follows the Chinese philosophy of Yin and Yang, or balance, and believes without health, other areas of people’s life will also suffer.

“In the modern world, there is an overwhelming amount of stress and anxiety that we often neglect our own health,” she said on her the Green E Juice website. “Prioritizing good health becomes secondary while fast food becomes more convenient and energy drinks are used for an extra boost.”

Bi said Green E Juice can be a “station of energy” from her juicing and soup recipes that date back many generations.

Within the month, Bi expects to launch online ordering and delivery, and later down the road, she hopes to open two more locations in Bellevue and Seattle with a central kitchen for easier delivery.

Green E Juice is located at 219 Kirkland Ave., Ste. 101 in Kirkland.

For more information, visit www.green-e-juice.com.