But then there was Ah Toy – pronounced “Ah Choi” in Cantonese – who became one of the best-known Asian women in 19th century California. Ah Toy was the first recorded Chinese sex worker in San Francisco, but became much more: so successful was her chain of brothels that she often attracted unfriendly attention from the local tongs, or Chinatown triads , and American authorities. At a time when the courts did not favour women, let alone women of colour, Ah Toy was reportedly intelligent and resourceful, and she often used the law to protect her business and personal autonomy. Born in 1829 in China’s Guangdong province, Ah Toy sailed from Hong Kong to California in 1849. This was a time when “women were scarce in the American West, and prostitution was widespread”, according to social historian Judy Yung in her 1998 book, Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women: the Qing Period, 1644-1911.