Yang was born in Shanghai, China, to a Chinese father and Jenny Liu, Chinese-American.
[2] Ms.Liu was invited to play the role in the film Shanghai 1976 (2008) and she has just known her father was an American soldier.
[3] Kristy grew up in a single-family as her father left the family during her childhood.
In the summer of 1995, during a trip to Hong Kong, Yang participated in the Miss Asia Pageant beauty contest organised by ATV and earned the title of "Miss Asia 1995".
[6] She also won the Miss Photogenic and Most Popular Contestant awards.