Little is known about Cheung's birth and childhood life except that she was a relative of the Qing Dynasty official Zhang Yinhuan (張蔭桓) (1837–1900), who was involved in the Hundred Days' Reform movement in 1898, and that she was born to educated parents in Foshan.
[2] After the Communist victory in the civil war, Cheung, her husband Yip, and their elder daughter Nga-sum left Foshan for Hong Kong in 1950.
Soon after they arrived at Hong Kong through Macau, Cheung and her son returned to Foshan to retrieve their identity cards.
However the closure of borders between China and Hong Kong was established in 1951, and Cheung was separated from her husband for good.
In the 2019 film Ip Man: Kung Fu Master, she was portrayed by Chang Qinyuan.