Grace Ho was born Bai Rong in 1907 in
Shanghai to mother Cheung King-sin (張瓊仙), a
mixed-race Eurasian woman who was a
mistress of (何甘棠), a prominent businessman who had 12 wives and reportedly more than 30 children. The ethnicity of Grace Ho's parents is somewhat uncertain. The most popular assertion is that Grace Ho's father was German and her mother was Chinese, as attested by biographers
Robert Clouse, Bruce Thomas, and Ho's daughter-in-law
Linda Lee Cadwell. Charles Russo has questioned this origin story entirely, suggesting that Grace Ho's father might have been Chinese or mixed-Chinese, and that her mother was English.
Matthew Polly concedes that Grace Ho's paternal grandfather was a Dutch Jew, but likewise asserts that her mother was English. However, according to Doug Palmer, the claim that Grace Ho had an English mother is only speculation. Palmer also notes that family records suggest that the Dutch-Jewish Bosman family had originated from Germany, which may explain why it was assumed that Grace had German origins. Grace spent part of her childhood in Hong Kong, living at the
Ho Tung Gardens in
the Peak under the care of Clara Ho Tung, her aunt. and
meteorology, becoming assistant director of the
Hong Kong Observatory. Bruce Lee would become famous in
Hollywood and Hong Kong for his films and skill in
martial arts, and
Robert Lee would become a popular Hong Kong and
Macau musician founding the band called the Thunderbirds. == Depictions in media ==