Chang was born some time in the 1840s in China (1841, 1844, 1846 or 1847) in either Fuzhou or Peking (Beijing). He first showed himself in England in 1865-1866 at the Egyptian Hall in Piccadilly with his wife, Kin Foo (King Foo or King Fow described as meaning Golden Lily or Fair Lily in China) and a Chinese dwarf called Chung Mow. He was only in his late teens. He also toured Europe and was reported as speaking up to ten languages. P.T. Barnam apparently lured Chang to tour the United States of America by offering to pay him $500 a month. He arrived in New York on 1 December 1880. While in America he posed in a number of different costumes including mandarin robes, a French military uniform, the armour and the dress of a Mongolian warrior.
He arrived in Victoria, from the US and via New Zealand at the end of 1870. He toured parts of Victoria in 1870-1871. The Argus reported on his popular displays at St George's Hall and Weston's Opera House in January and February 1871. The Bendigo Advertiser (28 February 1871) reported on his show at the Lyceum Theatre in Bendigo. He was accompanied by his wife who chatted with customers in English and sold photographs of the troupe. He appears to have stayed in the Bendigo area from 16 February 1871 to March 1871. He performed at the Benevolent Asylum with half the reciepts being donated to the Asylum. A wax effegy was also made of him which was later displayed at the 1877 Bendigo Easter Fair and was still being promoted as part of the fair as late as 1895.
During his visit to Sydney in 1871 the Mayor of Sydney presented him with a gold watch which according to the Age's obituary of him he always wore. Although another account states that it was given to him by Queen Victoria.
While in Australia, after the death of his first wife, Chang met Catherine Santley who he later married. According to research by Philip Bramble, Chang met Catherine (Kitty) through his associate, Mr John Rodgers, Secretary of the Sydney School of Arts Hall, where Chang had appeared. They married in the Congregational Church in Sydney, by Rev. John Graham (apparently at his house at the corner of Stanley and College Sts). Catherine Santley was born in Liverpool, Lancashire in the United Kingdom in June 1847. She was the daughter of Edwin Santley and Margaret Booley.
They had two children - Edwin (born c1877 in Shanghai, China) and Ernest (born c1879 in Paris, France). Chang returned to China around 1877-1878 and then the family lived in England. The 1881 census shows Catherine and her two sons (Chang was not present on either census night) living in Manchester but by the 1891 census they are recorded as living in Bournemouth. The family apparently moved to Bournemouth to help cure Chang's suspected tuberculosis. There he established an 'Oriental Bazaar' and tearooms where he sold Chinese curios, bronzes and silks and Chinese tea. He was reported as dying of a broken heart four months after his wife died in 1893, when he was around 50 years old.
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