[3][5] Hers was the first non-white family to live in Hong Kong's elite Victoria Peak neighborhood.
[3] After studying at the Diocesan Girls' School, in 1921 Cheng became one of the first women admitted to the University of Hong Kong.
[2] In 1948 she went to Hong Kong and began working in the city's Education Department, eventually rising to become the highest-ranking female staff member there.
[1][3] Cheng wrote two memoirs chronicling her time in British Hong Kong: "Clara Ho Tung.
[1][2][3] In her retirement, Cheng continued her advocacy for educational opportunities, founding the Chung Hwa School, which taught Chinese culture, in San Diego in 1970.
[1] She also taught at the University of California, San Diego, in this period, as well as teaching citizenship and other classes for immigrants to the United States.