Career
He immigrated to the United States from Guangzhou, China, in 1859 at the age of 22. Chinese stood out amongst his Chinese peers at the time in the United States as he dressed like a westerner and spoke perfect English. He worked on the First Transcontinental Railroad as the foreman of a group of Chinese railroad workers, many of whom Chinese, himself, recruited and helped to gain passage into the United States.
His leadership was important to the construction of the railroad because Chinese railroad workers were used to lay the steel rails.
Following the completion of the railroad in 1869 he settled for a time in Black Hawk, Colorado where he was the unofficial leader of a group of Chinese immigrants who settled in a community called Cottonwood. He died in 1894 and was buried in Denver"s Riverside Cemetery.
In April 1901 his body was exhumed and transferred to China.