Ping Wu is a Chinese immigrant who runs opium dens and prostitution rings across New York, some of which John Thackery visits.
Background[]
Ping Wu first came over to America with his family during the California Gold Rush. His father was a strict and violent man, encouraging him to learn Confucian studies and to refrain from learning English, so that once they strike it rich in gold, they would return to China with a new found wealth and status. The claim never panned out and Ping Wu soon learned English and fell in with gangsters.