Jeme Tien Yow, known as the Father of China's Railway, was born in Nam-hoiprefecture, Guangdong province. In 1872, twelve-years-old Jeme was sent to the United States for education. After studying at a primary school in New Haven, he then entered a secondary school there，and in 1878，Jeme was admitted to Yale University. Jeme's major was Civil Engineering, with an emphasis on railroad construction. Jeme received his bachelor's degree in 1881， and then he was called back by the Imperial Qing government.

Life was not good for the students recalled to China. The Qing government officials found behaviors of the foreign educated students unorthodox，they also had no plan to put their acquired knowledge to good use. Most of the recalled students were simply sent to the newly formed Imperial Navy to be re-trained as seamen. Jeme was sent to Fuchow in Fujian Province. A few years later, in 1884，the Imperial Navy in Fuchow was destroyed during the brief war with France. Jeme survived the war, and in 1888，he finally found his way to become a railroad engineer. Viceroy Li Hongzhang in Peking was constructing a railroad that would link Tientsin to the coal mines in Tangshan. A British engineer Claude W. Kinder was hired as the chief engineer of the railroad. Through connections with his old schoolmates working in Peking, Jeme joined Kinder as an intern engineer. Jeme was soon promoted to full engineer, and later district engineer.

In 1905, the Imperial Qing government decided to build a railroad that would link the capital of Peking to the important trade city of Kalgan to the north. Now that this railway would be of strategic importance to the Imperial government, a decision was made that the railway would be built without foreign assistance. Capital would come from the government, and no foreign engineers were to be hired. Jeme was appointed as chief engineer of the railway. At the beginning, some people were skeptical that the Qing government would be able to construct the railroad in the rugged Swallow Mountain north of Peking all by itself. But Jeme showed that he is an able engineer. He completed the work two years ahead of schedule and under budget.

Jeme was also responsible for setting many railroad standards that are still in force in China today. He was also the founding member of the China Institute of Engineers. Jeme was awarded an honorary doctorate degree by the University of Hong Kong in 1916. For his contributions to railroad engineering in China, Jeme was often called the Father of China's Railroad. Jeme died in 1919 at the age of 58 and was buried at the Qinglongqiao railway station. A museum was also established nearby to commemorate the works of Jeme Tien Yow.