Chi was born in Phan Rang, Vietnam, to Chinese parents. In 1978, three years after the Fall of Saigon, eight-year-old Chi and his family escaped by boat to the United States. Upon their arrival, Chi and his family were placed in the Indian Town Gap Refugee Camp where they became sponsored by the Jewish League of America and moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was there that Chi was raised with his nine brothers and three sisters.