Her mother had been a student at the Paxian Bible School in Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) and her father was a businessman who interacted with the overseas Chinese community in the United States.

She attended the Guangzhou City Peidao Women's High School (zh-yue), graduating in 1921 when she passed the Ministry of Education's examination.

[5][6] After three years of studying piano at USC, Zhang quit school[2] and married her father's business partner, George Young, keeping her own name,[5] but Americanizing it to Katherine Cheung.

[5] In 1931, Cheung enrolled in aviation classes,[9] taking flying lessons with the Chinese Aeronautical Association in Los Angeles with flight instructor Bert Ekstein.

[15] After attaining her license, she continued to study, often with military pilots to learn aerobatics, aircraft structures, international routing, navigation and other aviation skills.

[14] In 1936, Cheung became a United States citizen,[17][2] but still harbored dreams of returning to China to work for the Chinese government and teach aviation.

[20] While she continued for a few years, the loss of her friend Earhart, her cousin, and her father, coupled with her brother's death in China in 1942, finally convinced her to give up flying, as she was then the sole support for her mother.

Cheung has been recognized by the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum as the "First Asian American Aviatrix" and Flight Path Walk of Fame in Los Angeles has honored her with a bronze plaque bearing her name.