Zhu Li, Jo Li's grandmother, is the head of the
Jade Dragon Triad. Their activities in Chinatown include human smuggling (Chinese illegal immigrants), contract killing, extortion, money laundering, gambling and prostitution. They also trade in illegally-obtained Chinese antiquities and counterfeit Asian electronic goods. The Jade Dragon triad owns four illegal gambling parlors, running mah-jongg, fan-tan, pai gow and poker, which pull down more than $500,000 a month, as well as four Asian "houses of assignation" that range in quality from common prostitutes up to extremely high-priced call-girls. In addition to gambling and prostitution, human trafficking from Mainland China also makes up a large income for the Triad, and it is an open secret that the best contract killers to be found in Chinatown are in the Jade Dragon Triad.
Born in the Crown Colony of Hong Kong, she knew Mark Sauer's grandfather, and was his lover. Zhu Li speaks with a very proper, well-bred upper-class English accent, and in her day was a renowned beauty in Hong Kong society, and even then was an influential member of the Jade Dragon Triad. It is rumored that she was involved in the atomic secrets scandal that rocked the American intelligence community in early June of 1953.
Zhu's name means "Bamboo"; like most Chinese of the period, she took a "white" name in order to fit into the white society of the Crown Colony--'Elizabeth', the same name as the British Princess (who became Queen of England in 1953).