 Who are the Chingsi?
Walking, talking natives on a blue sky planet with 1.1 g gravity and a twenty per cent oxygen atmosphere at fifteen p.s.i. The odds against finding Chang on a six-sun survey on the first star jump ever must be up in the googols. "The Chang natives aren't very technical—haven't got space travel for instance. We were able to show them our sun, in their telescopes. People who talk English, drink beer, like jokes and beat me at chess or table-tennis are people for my money, even if they look like tigers in trousers. Of course it's a screwy situation, playing chess with something that grows its own fur coat, has yellow eyes an inch and a half long and long white whiskers.
 A race of cat-like humanoids from the planet Chang.
 The Chingsi are the inhabitants of Alpha Centauri.  A race of cat-like humanoids from the planet Chang.  Chingsi is what the people of China call themselves in this story.  The Chingsi are genetically mutated cats.