Tung On Chin (1905-1989) was the owner of the Linyen Cafe, located at 424 Seventh Avenue South in Seattle's Chinatown International District. Chin first arrived in Seattle in 1923, then went back to China in 1929 and 1933 before returning to Seattle for good in 1934. The first newspaper ad for the Linyen Cafe appears in late 1939. Chin was married to Suey V.Y. Chin and they had two sons and two daughters. The Linyen Cafe (later the Linyen Restaurant and Lounge) remained in business until at least 1990.

This photograph was taken as part of a 1965 newspaper report about the effect of a recent fatal shooting on businesses in the Chinatown International District neighborhood. The shooting took place after an altercation at the Linyen Cafe. Tung On Chin, as owner of the Linyen, was one of several Chinese business owners interviewed for the article.

Caption information source: "Linyen booms; Chinatown gloomg," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, July 15, 1965, p. 11. "Don Chin New CC Head in Chinatown, January 29, 1965, p. 19
Caption information source: Ancestry.com