During a stop-over in Tahiti, Chun Kong Chow disembarked to be greeted by the only Chinese family living in Tahiti at that time. They gave him a burlap bag of tropical fruits as a parting gift.
When the Chun family reached San Francisco, they were detained one night at Angel Island for immigration processing. A letter of introduction from the vice consul of the American Consulate General in Melbourne helped secure the family's quick release from Angel Island.
The Chuns entered the U.S. pursuant to Section 6 (the treaty merchant section) of the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act which granted merchant families legal residency.
The Chuns then stayed in Oakland, California, for a short period period with Chun Kong Chow's sister, Sui Kim.
While in Oakland, they met future renown watercolor artist Dong Kingman for the first time. Dong Kingman was Sui Kim's brother-in-law. They also met the daughter of Sui Kim, May Tai Sing, later a dancer at the Forbidden City night club in San Francisco and at the China Doll night club in New York City.
The Chun family traveled by train to New York City and then went north to Albany, New York, to the Oriental Occidental Restaurant. Chun Kong Chow's father had a partnership interest in the restaurant. In Albany, a fifth child, a daughter, was born to the Chuns.
In 1928, the Chun family settled in New York City and opened the New York branch of Sun Goon Shing at 55 Mott Street on the northwest corner of Mott and Bayard Streets, in 1929. Sun Goon Shing was the first Chinese business to cross Mott Street into the ethnic Italian section of lower Manhattan. In New York City, two more children, a daughter and a son, were born to the Chuns, completing the family.
Sun Goon Shing, New York, operated until 1968, keeping in step with the changes that occured in the community for forty years. The family sold the business in 1969.
Chun Kong Chow retired in 1968 after closing Sun Goon Shing, New York, but remained active in business and community affairs.
