Editing Martin Yan (section)

== Early years and education ==
With ancestral roots in [[Kaiping|Hoiping]], Yan was born in [[Guangzhou]], [[Guangdong]], [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|China]] to a [[restaurateur]] father and a [[grocer]] mother. Yan began to cook at the age of 12. When he was 13, he moved to [[Hong Kong]], where he attended the [[Munsang College]] in [[Kowloon City]]. During this time in Munsang College, he worked at his uncle's Chinese restaurant and learned the traditional method of [[Chinese barbecue]]. He received a diploma from the Overseas Institute of Cookery of Hong Kong and later left for Canada for continued study. Ten years after his arrival in North America, Yan received a [[Master of Science degree]] in [[food science]] from [[University of California, Davis]], in 1975.

He is not related to [[Chinese people|Chinese]]-[[Canada|Canadian]] chef [[Stephen Yan]] of ''[[Wok With Yan]]'', though for a year in the 1970s, Martin Yan worked for Stephen Yan who trained him as one of Stephen Yan's 'Flying Squad' of six chefs who flew across Canada to do demonstrations in Chinese cooking for events like the [[Calgary Stampede]], the [[Klondike Days]] in Edmonton and houseware demonstrations at [[Hudson's Bay Company]] stores.<ref name="OJ">{{cite news |title=Chef Yan may serve up a hit |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/43391486/ |access-date=August 10, 2024 |work=Ottawa Journal |date=May 10, 1980}}</ref>