Kitty Bing (née Pong, formerly Tai) is a former soap opera star turned gold-digging social climber and a secondary protagonist in the Crazy Rich Asians book series by Kevin Kwan.
Background[]
Kitty's parents were sanitation workers from Qinghai. Her mother grew up middle class and was educated until the great famine in China. After not getting into university, Kitty moved to Shenzhen and worked at a KTV bar. Before she married Bernard Tai and later Jack Bing, she was a soap opera star in Hong Kong. She was viewed extremely disdainfully by most members of the Singapore social elite, who saw her as a gold-digger and social climber.
Personality[]
Kitty is a vain, self-centered, and pampered social climber who will do anything to get accepted into the higher social circles of Singapore. She is otherwise quite naïve and harmless, relying on others, such as Corinna Ko-Tung and Oliver T'sien to help her get her way. However, by the end of the series, she demonstrates that she has grown significantly and is able to take the initiative on her own to get what she wants.
Books[]
Crazy Rich Asians[]
Kitty is introduced as the gold-digging soap opera star dating Alistair Cheng. Due to the connivance of Oliver T'sien, she breaks up with Alistair in order to start a relationship with Bernard Tai, the only child and heir to the Tai family fortune, which she hopes to receive by marrying him. Kitty becomes pregnant in weeks, leading to a secret marriage to prevent disgrace to the Tai family.
China Rich Girlfriend[]
In China Rich Girlfriend, she ends up making several mishaps in the tabloids and including embarrassing her ex-boyfriend Alistair's powerful family. She gives birth to a daughter named Giselle, whom she's worried about due to Bernard's eccentric behavior and lack of involvement in his own family life. She also employs the help of Corinna Ko-Tung to help her improve her image and get accepted into Singapore high society. Later, with Corinna's help, she "kidnaps" her daughter with Bernard and escapes to a lavish home in Singapore. Revealing herself as the lover of Jack Bing, Kitty sues Bernard for full custody of Giselle.
Rich People Problems[]
In Rich People Problems, she is the new jet-setting wife of China's second richest man, billionaire Jack Bing. She always feels second to her stepdaughter, Colette, both in her husband's attention and her high society life. Thanks to investing her divorce settlement from her previous husband Bernard Tai, she manages to pull together enough money to become the secret investor in keeping Tyersall Park from being sold to her own husband Jack, who would have given it to her hated step-daughter Colette. In the epilogue, it appears that she has been fully accepted by Alistair, Peik Lin, Nick, and Rachel.
Lies and Weddings
Kitty divorced Jack Bing and started dating Prince Maximillian zu Liechtenburg.