Chin Gee Hee

Chin Gee Hee (June 22, 1844 – 1929), also rendered Cheun Gee Yee, courtesy name Cheung Ting (暢庭), was a Chinese merchant, labor contractor, and railway entrepreneur, who made his fortune in Seattle, Washington before returning to his native village in Guangdong province, where he continued his successes.

Life Born the son of a maker of soy sauce crocks in a village in what is now the city of Taishan, Chin came to the attention of an old man His own building at Second and Washington, the Canton Building (also known as the Chin Gee Hee Building), 208-210 S. Washington Street, raised after the Great Seattle Fire of June 6, 1889. It was shared with the Bow Tai Wo Company. and returned in 1904 or 1905 to China, where he was the entrepreneur behind South China's first railway and founded a seaport, while continuing also to have business associations with Seattle.

His railway was known as the Sun Ning Railway Company. He raised $2.75 million, mainly from overseas Chinese; Chin's partner Yu Shek or Yu Chuek raised further funds in China and from overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia. The Sun Ning was the Pearl River Delta's first major railway. Its benefits to Guangdong's economy were cut short when it was seized by local warlords in 1926; it was finally destroyed during the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1938.

While in China, Chin also served as a connection for the Seattle China Club. Members of the China Club, which advocated for increased trade between China and Seattle, were invited to attend the opening of Chin's port in Guangdong.