Choo Waihong

Choo Waihong (died September 2023) was a Singaporean corporate lawyer, feminist and travel writer, known for her book The Kingdom of Women: Life, Love and Death in China’s Hidden Mountains about the matriarchal Chinese tribe of Mosuo.

Biography Choo was from a Chinese community in Singapore. Choo was educated at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. After graduating, Choo worked at law firms in Singapore and California, United States, as a corporate lawyer specialising in fund management law. She took early retirement from her law career in 2006 in order to travel in China and reconnect with her roots.

Choo began writing about her post-retirement travels for the China Daily newspaper. Choo then lived among the matriarchal tribe of Mosuo, who live around Lugu Lake in the Yunnan province, for six months a year over seven years. She built a traditional Mosuo house on the land of a friend and was the first outsider to move into the heart of the tribe. It has been covered by publications including The Guardian, The Diplomat magazine, South China Morning Post and Stylist magazine.

Choo described herself as a feminist serving for two terms (2007 to 2009).

Choo died in September 2023.