[1] Her parents had moved to the Guizhou region to escape the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong.

[1] She undertook university study in Hong Kong,[1] and then completed a PhD in the History Department of the University of Auckland in 1983, titled From Qing reformer to twentieth-century publisher: the life and times of Zhang Yuanji 1867–1959.

[2][3] Ip's PhD thesis was published by Beijing Commercial Press in 1985, and she has continued to study and publish on the Chinese diaspora, especially in relation to the identity of Chinese New Zealanders and New Zealand relationships with Hong Kong, Taiwan and China.

[6] In June 1996 Ip was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the Chinese community.

[4] Ip was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the Chinese community and education in the New Years Honours for 2018.