[4] Following the stock market crash of 1987, Chi traveled abroad to create food and beverage concepts throughout Asia from Hong Kong to Jakarta.
[4] In Hong Kong, he met the real estate developer Allan Zeman and restaurateur Paul Hsu, and the trio started transforming the island's Lan Kwai Fong district into an entertainment destination, which was the start of his international career in design.
[5] Chi later designed restaurants for chefs like Wolfgang Puck, Alain Ducasse and Michael Mina.
[6] Later, Chi began to expand his portfolio to include hotel interiors, from Santiago to Geneva, developing his signature "invisible design" aesthetic, or that which you do not necessarily see, but feel and perceive.
Notable hospitality projects in the tonychi studio portfolio include: Chi was inducted into Interior Design's Hall of Fame in 2009[4] and awarded FIT's Lawrence Israel Prize in 2015.