Cynthia Yee, A Modern Chinese American Living For Her Community

Cynthia Yee, a fourth-generation Chinese American, is the first member of her family to live outside of Chinatown and still be very active in the life of her original neighborhood.

Yee is the owner and creator of the Chinatown Ghost Tours; she also works for Chinatown’s Merchant’s Association as the entertainment director for the Autumn Moon Festival. Yee is also a dancer and has her own team with which she performs for the veterans, universities, Asian American functions, etc. Besides, Yee partners with a magician and does really famous and mysterious tricks.

Yee first became a professional dancer when she finished high school in 1963. She then joined a troupe directed by Dorothy Toy, who lived in the same apartment building, said Yee. “Dorothy Toy was known as the Chinese Ginger Rogers. I was just a little girl, running up and down the stairs, and I always saw her travelling,” said Yee. “I was just amazed by her.”

“We travelled the world, all throughout the United States, all throughout Canada, the Caribbean, South America, Europe,” said Yee. “We were a hit in Europe because we were sponsored by the Scandinavian Airlines.”

“After travelling with her for about eight years, I got married,” said Yee. Yee then started doing charity work. She said she has been doing charity work for the last 10 to 20 years.

Yee is the cofounder of the Grant Avenue Follies along with three other ladies: Pat Chin, Ivy Tam, and Isabel Louie. Their goal is to entertain but also to educate people about the Chinese American influence in the 1930s.

Yee is the former president of the Chinese Hospital Auxiliary where her dance troupe started and where it rehearsals.

In the mean time, Yee got divorced from her husband with whom she has a daughter, Jecina. Jecina is now in her early thirties and has a three-year-old son, Colin.

In 2005, Yee was the recipient of a 2005 Jefferson Award, an honor established by the American Institute for Public Service in 1972 to encourage and recognize individuals for their achievements and contributions through community service.

Meanwhile, Yee moved out of Chinatown because she needed more space, she said. “We had a chance to rent a flat, which led us to move to Washington and Leavenworth,” said Yee.

In addition to the charity work she does with her dance troupe, the Grant Avenue Follies, Yee is involved in Chinatown’s business life. She owns and organizes the Chinatown Ghost Tours, which she leads on weekends at night.

“She is a very interesting and passionate woman,” said Sandra Paola Pedroza Velandia, a tourist from the Bay Area. “She is a great ambassador of the Chinese culture.” Perdoza said she likes the tour because it’s convivial and instructive.

Although Yee’s days are already pretty busy as they are, she said she also performs magic tricks with Robert Daley (Tamaka being his stage name), a magician, illusionist and storyteller.

“I became intrigued by magic about 15 years ago when I was doing an event for the On Lok Senior Center, raising money,” said Yee. “It was their first fundraiser, and I wanted to do a magic show.”

Since then, the tricks have evolved, and Tamaka and the Empress (Yee’s stage name) have paired together.

“The amazing part about being cut in thirds is that I’m an older person because younger people are more agile,” said Yee. Yee said she also has a tap dance trick where she makes a handkerchief dance with her.

“She is not too helpful with unloading the truck or packing things into the truck as she doesn't carry anything that is larger than her lipstick,” Tamaka said. “She doesn't help with driving when we tour because she doesn't drive on freeways.” However, Tamaka also said that she probably is the best partner in the business and that “the act loses a lot when she is not there.”

Yee, with Tamaka, cofounded the Linking Rings Performing Arts Group whose mission is to increase young people’s knowledge and emphasize positive skills so that they will become successful adults. They do this through stories, dance, and magic theatre, said Yee.

The team performed at the Wax Museum at Fisherman’s Wharf for a private party Nov. 23. Trevar Booker, a Fisherman’s Wharf restaurant manager, organized the party.

“I thought it was excellent,” said Booker. “The audience was well-received by Tamaka and his partner. She is really elegant and smooth; she really adds to the show,” said Booker, talking about Yee’s performance.

Yee is now working with a lady who is making a movie based on the Chinatown Ghost Tour. “There is a person who was so intrigued by Chinatown and the tour that she is writing a movie script,” said Yee. The movie will be based on facts that Yee gives during the tour.