Trump Tourism: How Charlottesville enabled Cindy Yang to market Mar-a-Lago in China

[DonViejo]

BY SARAH BLASKEY, NICHOLAS NEHAMAS, AND CAITLIN OSTROFF

MARCH 29, 2019 11:54 AM,

UPDATED 37 MINUTES AGO

A group of newcomers dressed in black tie with leopard print accents — a dress code dubbed “safari chic” — joined Palm Beach high society at Mar-a-Lago on Jan. 26, 2018.

Rather than the usual American Cancer Society dinner, a crown jewel of the 2018 charity season ended up being a “Safari Night” held for a recently re-opened youth-mentoring charity — a consequence of Mar-a-Lago losing half the season’s planned events after President Donald Trump said there were “very fine people on both sides” of a deadly white nationalist march in Charlottesville, Virginia, in mid-2017.

The gold-trimmed ballrooms were decorated with paper cutout lions and zebras for what was promised to be the “wildest ball of the year,” hosted by Elizabeth Trump Grau, the president’s older sister. The proceeds were to benefit the charity Young Adventurers.

Working the door was a recent addition to the Mar-a-Lago scene: Li “Cindy” Yang, an Asian-themed day-spa magnate making a name for herself both in Florida Republican Party fundraising circles — and in her native China.

Yang’s invitations to Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s private club and resort, started coming after high society’s post-Charlottesville exodus. She helped promote the cobbled-together replacement galas, selling them online as opportunities for Chinese businessmen to gain face-time with the Trump family.

On Chinese social media, Safari Night became a “midnight carnival” of the American social and political elite and an important networking opportunity for businessmen from overseas. Seats were marked up from the $600, reported by the Washington Post, to $1,000. The ads also offered VIP packages for overnight stays at Mar-a-Lago — $10,000 for two nights, with spa and golf course access, according to one post from a member of a local Asian-American political group.

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