Forbidden City was a Chinese nightclub and cabaret in San Francisco, which was in business from 1938 to 1970,[1] and operated on the second floor of 363 Sutter Street,[a] between Chinatown and Union Square.

It was popular with military personnel who were transiting through San Francisco during World War II, as well as Hollywood celebrities, and became the most well-known "Chop Suey Circuit"[4] nightclub during the 40s and 50s.

Asian American performers were able to prove their talent regardless of their racial identity, and some even launched their career after the closure of Forbidden City.

[30] In 1946, the club inspired Tom Ball, a Caucasian stage producer, to open the short-lived "China Doll" nightclub, the first with Asian American staff and performers in New York City.

Low's Forbidden City was also preceded by, and competed with, Andy Wong's Chinese Sky Room,[46][47][48] which opened almost a year earlier on December 31, 1937.

[50] It was located a few blocks from San Francisco's Chinatown, and catered to the curiosity of a mostly white audience who were unfamiliar with and possibly intimidated by, a community of only Chinese Americans.

[4][30] Named after the Forbidden City in Beijing, Low described his nightclub as an Oriental paradise separated from the rest of the world.

Low also joked about the club publicly, saying: "my babies (showgirls) are forbidden to say 'yes'", which resonates to his idea of "look—but don't touch my beautiful Oriental girls.

"[4] The male performers were also labeled as "sissy," meaning homosexual men who don't fit into traditional gender roles of Chinese culture.

For this reason, Low recruited Asian American performers primarily from other areas like Arizona, Hawaii, and the Midwest, rather than directly from San Francisco's Chinatown.

[4] Business was slow until 1940, when Low hired Noel Toy, a journalism student at University of California, Berkeley[54] who had worked as a nude model at the Golden Gate International Exposition in 1939.

[54] Life Magazine published a 3-page profile of the club in 1940, praising the dancing abilities of Chinese women as a "fragile charm distinctive to their race".

Jack Soo (the stage name of Goro Suzuki)[60] had been hired to headline the Forbidden City for a six-week engagement starting in September 1957;[61] by October, it was rumored he would be moving on to the Desert Inn in Las Vegas,[62] but it was announced in November that he would star in the Broadway production of Flower Drum Song as Wang Ta, the Americanized son promised to Mei Li;[63] he would go on to reprise the role in the Hollywood film version of the musical, released in 1961.

[64] An hour-long documentary, Forbidden City, U.S.A., was filmed in the mid-1980s by Chinatown native Arthur Dong and released in 1989, featuring most of the original cast.

Excerpts from two 78 RPM acetate disks were played in the documentary, and included in Ching's debut album Till the End of Time (2003).

[52]: 240  The club was patronized by Hollywood celebrities, such as Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Anna May Wong, Bing Crosby, Eddie Cantor, Duke Ellington, Judy Garland, George Jessel, Lena Horne, Jane Wyman, and Ronald Reagan.

[52] A number of Asian American musicians, actors, and other celebrities either started their professions at the Forbidden City, or are famous for performing there.

During the early years of the club the performers' salaries, modest as they were, provided rare employment opportunities for Asian-Americans suffering under the discriminatory laws of the time.

He once played the role of harem master in the show "The Girl in the Gilded Cage", with his flexible body contorting in a series of peculiar postures.

The bubble dance attracted many male Caucasian customers who were curious if an Asian woman's genitals were shaped the same as white women's.

She then moved on to perform in different nightclubs around the East Coast including Philadelphia, Baltimore, and New York City, making up to 500 dollars a week.

[74] Yee was born to Chinese immigrants living in Columbus, Ohio on November 2, 1926; as a teenager, she performed in her uncle's supper club in Washington, D.C.

When her parents came to San Francisco after World War II to return to China, she and her older sister, Fawn,[75] refused to follow them and stayed in the Bay Area.

"[76] Although she retired after the Forbidden City closed, she remained active in the community and made many hand-sewn costumes in her San Pablo home; in 2015, Yee was spotted by Cynthia Yee (no relation, a Dorothy Toy protogée, later a Chinese Skyroom substitute dancer, later 1967 Miss Chinatown San Francisco[77]) teaching ballroom dancing to seniors and was persuaded to join Cynthia's Grant Avenue Follies (members include Cynthia Yee, Pat Chin, Ivy Tam, Lillian Poon, Emily Chin, and Avis See-Tho[78]).

[76] The Burlesque Hall of Fame named her a "Living Legend" in 2020;[79] she died on August 14, 2020, the day before she was scheduled to receive the award in a virtual ceremony.

[4]: 20–21 Guests at the Forbidden City could purchase a 5x7 image of their evening, which came in a souvenir folder that was signed by their host, Charlie Low.

Low was married four times: first to Minnie Louie, then to Li Tei Ming (who was the pianist and singer at the Chinese Village),[4]: 20  Betty Wong, and Ivy Tam (who also worked at the Forbidden City).