[3] According to her relatives, she defied gender norms at a young age, resisting foot-binding[2] and, in one incident, bringing a gun to her school.
[4] At the age of 19, she organized ethnic Kokang forces, nicknamed the Olive's Boys, an army of over a thousand soldiers and consolidated control of opium trade routes from the highlands to lowlands.
[6] In the 1950s, after the Nationalist defeat and their subsequent expulsion from mainland China, she partnered with the Kuomintang to establish opium trade routes along the Golden Triangle (Southeast Asia).
[10]: 104 Her influence increased throughout the decade with the backing of the Kuomintang and Yang became the de facto ruler of the region.
[4][13] Although she is widely thought to be bisexual, her apparent interest in men may be a false assumption based on Burmese society's understanding of gender non-conformity at the time and her marriage.
[8] In the late 1980s, she was recruited by Khin Nyunt to help broker ceasefires in Burma with ethnic rebel groups.