The East Kong Yick Building () is one of two buildings erected in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

's Chinatown-International District (ID) by the Kong Yick Investment Company (the other being the West Kong Yick Building). A four-story hotel in the core of the ID, with retail stores at ground level, the East Kong Yick was created by the pooled resources of 170

Chinese American Chinese Americans are Americans of Han Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans along with their ancestors trace lineage from ...

pioneers. In, 2008, the building reopened as the home of the expanded

Wing Luke Asian Museum The Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience is a history museum in Seattle, Washington, United States, which focuses on the culture, art and history of Asian Pacific Americans. It is located in the city's Chinatown-Internationa ...

Kong Yick Investment Company

In 1910 Goon Dip, a prominent businessman in Seattle's Chinese American community, led a group of Chinese American pioneers to form the Kong Yick Investment Company. he name of the company, Kong Yick (公益) loosely means "public benefits."With no financial backing from a bank, the investment company pooled money from approximately 170 Chinese American community members to fund the construction of two twin buildings that would serve as the anchor of a "new"

Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...

. They commissioned architects Thompson & Thompson, who had strong ties with the local Asian community, to design both buildings. Members of the investment company lived not only in Seattle but throughout the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

, making the Kong Yick Buildings a landmark for the Chinese community.

Notable businesses

Chin Chun Hock, who arrived in Seattle in 1860, established the Wa Chong Company (華昌, "Chinese Prosperity") in 1868 with partner Woo Gen. The company recruited labor and imported goods from

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea and ...

. When Chinatown relocated to its current location, Wa Chong reopened at 717 King St., now (2010) the Welcome Hall in the new

. Next door,

Chin Gee Hee Chin Gee Hee (June 22, 1844
, Bureau of Archives of Taishan City.