Tsai Chin

Who is Tsai Chin?

Tsai Chin, also known by her Chinese name Zhou Caiqin, is an actress, director, teacher and author, best known in America for her role as Auntie Lindo in the film The Joy Luck Club.

The third daughter of the legendary Peking opera actor and singer Zhou Xinfang, Tsai Chin was the first Chinese student trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, and later earned a Masters Degree at Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts. Her career spans more than five decades and three continents. She starred onstage in London's West End in The World of Susie Wong, and on Broadway in Golden Child. Chin appeared in two James Bond films: as a Bond girl in You Only Live Twice; and Casino Royale. Her single, "The Ding Dong Song," recorded for Decca, hit the top of the music charts in Asia. She was the first acting instructor to be invited to teach acting in China after the Cultural Revolution, when China's universities re-opened. In China she is best known for her portrayal of Grandmother Jia in the 2010 TV drama series The Dream of Red Mansions.