Locke’s Jan Ying Benevolent Association dates back to the founding of Locke in 1915. The Jan Ying building, centrally located on the east side of Main Street Locke, was the social center and informal headquarters for the men from the Zhongshan District of China. The men could go there to read and converse in their local dialect. The field workers received mail and assistance in writing and translation. They read Chinese newspapers, played games of chess, dominoes, fan-tan, and mahjong. They drank tea and played musical instruments. Visit this museum and get a glimpse of how they relaxed and passed time after a hard day’s work.

In 1990, the San Francisco headquarters of the Jan Ying Association decided to close down the Locke branch because the town’s Chinese population was decreasing at a rapid pace. In 2011 building owner Clarence Chu reopened the Jan Ying building as a museum, dedicating it to the memory of the original Jan Ying Benevolent Association and its once thriving membership. During Locke’s 2012 Asian Pacific Spring Festival. Mr. Lin was pleasantly surprised to see that the Jan Ying Association doors were once again open. As president of the Fresno Chapter of the Jan Ying Association he supported Foundation President Clarence Chu to reopen the Jan Ying building and transform it into a museum.