This Man Helped Popularize Chinese Food. But His Death Remains Mysterious

In the early 1900s, Chin Foin’s restaurants helped popularize Chinese food among white Americans. Chicago’s King Yen Lo, King Joy Le, and The Mandarin Inn served an upscale version of what you would have found in the city’s chop suey joints along with American fare on white table linens while a performer sang opera in the background. Chin’s restaurants were popular among politicians, gangsters, and other Chicago elite. But in 1924, he fell down an elevator shaft and died. Chin’s death was ruled an accident, but granddaughter Nancy Wang questions that narrative. She tells Jacoby Cochran her grandfather’s story.

Guest: Nancy Wang — Co-director, Eth-Noh-Tec Theater

Wang’s play “Shadows and Secrets” explores her grandfather’s mysterious death. She’s working to put it up next year in San Francisco.

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