Wah Ching

Wah Ching (華青, Hanyu Pinyin: Huáqīng, Cantonese language|Cantonese: Wa4 ching1) also known by slang as &quot;Dub C&quot; is a largely Chinese American street gang that originated in San Francisco's Chinatown, San Francisco|Chinatown in the 1960s. The name literally translates to &quot;Chinese youth&quot;, and the group was comprised primarily of immigrant Cantonese people|Cantonese boys from Hong Kong who banded together to combat the American-born Chinese who would often pick on them.

The Wah Ching have been described as an organized crime group. From its origin in 1966 as a street gang, the Wah Ching has developed into a criminal organization, with alleged multi-international crime connections. During the 1970s and 1980s, the Wah Ching became an organization that controlled most of the criminal vices in San Francisco's Chinatown and Los Angeles' Chinese communities. During that time, there may have been as many as 200 Wah Ching members and 500 criminal associates in California. Although primarily headquartered in San Francisco, they have developed strong associations with Asian organized crime groups and gang members in Los Angeles, Seattle, Vancouver, Toronto, Boston, and New York--along with close ties to the Sun Yee On and the 14K Triad in Hong Kong. Today in Los Angeles, the Bay Area of California, Vancouver, and the rest of the West Coast of North America there are an estimated 3,000 gang members of Wah Ching and an estimated 1,000 more affiliated with the Wah Ching Gang.

Wah Ching first received widespread media attention because of the 1977 Golden Dragon massacre involving another Chinese gang, the Chung Ching Yee (Joe Boys). The event took place at the Golden Dragon Restaurant in San Francisco's Chinatown. The cause of the attack was vandalism by Wah Ching to the graves of several Joe Boy members and a shootout that took place a few months earlier that left one Joe Boy dead and two others wounded.

In the 1990s, a Hong Kong Triad society|Triad called Wo Hop To set foot in San Francisco to take over all Asian organized crime in the United States. At that time Wah Ching and Wo Hop To became partners in crime activities. Later, they turned into rivals after one of the Wah Ching leaders was gunned down at Purple Onion Restaurant in North Beach, San Francisco, California|North Beach by members of the Wo Hop To, and that triggered a war. Soon, bullets were flying in the streets of Chinatown. More and more Wah Chings were being murdered and Wah Ching was run out of San Francisco ever since.

The Wah Ching reorganized in Southern California with the leadership of Tony Young and several other original members from San Francisco including Paul, Sunny, Ken, and the Taiwanese Sunny. These original gangsters formed the four factions in the Southern California Wah Ching organization:Paul side, Sunny side, Ken side, and Taiwanese side. However, with the arrest of several top ringleaders, Paul side disbanded to become Monterey Park Wah Ching, and several sub-groups sprang up, Alhambra Wah Ching, and Ocean Side Wah Ching.

Wah Ching is located in the Northern California Bay Area in some cities such as San Leandro, California|San Leandro, Antioch, California|Antioch, Fremont, California|Fremont, Richmond, California|Richmond, Hayward, California|Hayward, and other cities in the East Bay (the Area code 510|510 area code). In Southern California they are located in Rowland Heights, California|Rowland Heights, Diamond Bar, California|Diamond Bar, Torrance, California|Torrance, Hacienda Heights, California|Hacienda Heights, San Gabriel, California|San Gabriel, San Marino, California|San Marino, Temple City, California|Temple City, Arcadia, California|Arcadia, Santa Ana, California|Santa Ana, Monterey Park, California|Monterey Park, Alhambra, California|Alhambra, and as far south as San Diego, California|San Diego (the Area code 626|626 area code). They are also located in Canada. In Vancouver (the 604 area code) and Toronto. There are a number of members in Vancouver and also in many schools both the east and west side. Their main enemies are the Asian Boyz (ABZ), an asian crip gang, and Vietnamese Boyz (VBZ). Both Wah Ching and Asian Boyz were featured on the television program, America's Most Wanted, following a vicious shooting at a pool hall. The Wah Ching also influence New York by way of Chinatown, Sunset Park, and Flushing.They are present in small numbers in these areas, but maintain a significant influence nonetheless. These &quot;sides&quot; also present themselves as bloods, due to the fact that New York City is home to the United Blood Nation. Red is also a lucky color in Chinese culture, adding to its significance in Wah Ching.

In recent years, some Wah Ching members as young as 16 have been dabbling in murder. In 2001, a 17 year old Wah Ching member, who actually was an Advanced Placement student at Diamond Bar High School, shot and killed two members of the rival San Gabriel Killas (SGK) while attending a football game. More recently (December 2005) a 20yr-old Wah Ching member ran down a Chicano man with unknown gang affiliation in front of his house, and repeatedly backed over the man beyond the point of death, while holding down the car's horn to ensure that neighbors in the area saw the act.

The Wah Ching Gang has an ongoing conflict with another rival Asian gang in LA, the Asian Boyz, who also aligned themselves with the Vietnamese Boyz in opposition to Wah Ching. Wah Ching's move from its original home in the Bay Area to the southern California region is probably one of the sources of the disputes over gang turf.

Currently, the gang have shown signs of mixed ideology. Despite the fact that Wah Ching in Chinese literally means &quot;Chinese Youth&quot;, there are still some individuals of non-Chinese descent who claim Wah Ching. The gang now consists of a great number of Vietnamese members, and the same with their rivals, the Vietnamese Boyz holds a great number of Chinese members. It is rumored that their reasoning for this is that it is the &quot;Chinese Youth&quot; gang, and that the members working or fighting for the gang do not have to be of Chinese ethnicity.