 Wang arrived in San Francisco around 1878 at the age of 18.He told reporters he had been raised by missionaries in China, and that when he came to the United States, he began working as a minister at churches in Boston and New York City.He was accused of being a member of the Hip Sing Association — a Chinese-American street gang — in the early 1900s, although he was also an advocate for reform in New York City's Chinatown neighborhood, and offered up evidence that led to a number of police raids.