what are tongs
A Chicago landmark: The On Leong Merchants Association Building. In Chinese, the word tong means hall or gathering place. In North America, a tong (Chinese: å ; pinyin: tÃ¡ng; Cantonese Yale: tong; literally: hall) is a type of organization found among Chinese living in the United States and Canada. These organizations are described as secret societies or sworn brotherhoods and are often tied to criminal activity.