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CHO FU LAI 
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A REMEMBRANCE
Frank was born in Beijing, China and came to the United States in 1947.

CHINESE OPERA
Self-taught, Frank played the hu-chin and was one of the founding members of the Chinese Opera Club in New York City.

BRUSHWORK
Having studied Chinese brush painting with master C. C. Wang, Frank opened Mi Chou, the first gallery in the United States to exclusively feature Chinese artists.

TEA CRAFT
Expert tea taster and blender, Frank traveled extensively in search of fine teas that could be imported and distributed in the United States.

HUMANITARIAN
​Frank's brother was killed by Japanese troops near the conclusion of WWII. In memory of Cho Huan-Lai, Frank's dying wish was to establish an endowed fund to support academic research at Macalester College.

Tea craft

"The Grace Tea Company has been a New York institution since its founding in 1959. The character and style of Grace Rare Teas were developed by Grace’s founder, Frank Cho. At Grace’s inception, Cho was known by many as an expert tea taster who had an unparalleled ability to taste the nuances of the various tea leaves. He created many of the tea blends still offered today, focusing on combining rare teas from China, India, Formosa and Ceylon. His elegant black tin with a clipper ship on its label, filled to the top with the finest tea available, is a well sought after luxury item to this day."
"By concentrating on offering only the finest large, unbroken tea leave in their blends, Grace Tea Company has been able to assure uniformity and unsurpassed cup quality year after year. To many this might not seem that adventurous, but during the 1950's all the way up to the 1980's, importing teas of this quality and selling them to the general public was almost unheard of. Americans during these decades only knew of tea from the teabags and luke warm water being served to them at their favorite restaurants. His great tasting teas have not gone unnoticed as they have won six awards at the International Fancy Food Shows over the decades.
Over the years, these teas have adorned the specialty food department shelves of Bloomingdale's, Bergdorf Goodman and William Sonoma. More recently, they can be found at New York City's famous Dean & Deluca Market, Zabar's, Four Season's Restaurant, Grace's Marketplace and McNulty's Coffee & Tea; New Orleans Windsor Court Hotel; Olympia, Washington's Tea Lady; Chapel Hill, North Carolina's A Southern Season; and Ellsworth, Maine's Rooster Brother Coffee."
— Excerpts from Grace Tea and The World of Fine Teas websites
Featured profile in Tea & Coffee Trade Journal circa July 1974 :
Story from New York Herald Tribune, 1963 — courtesy of Grace Tea archives (thanks, Hartley):