Famous for her Golden Rooster and Golden Phoenix award-winning performances in the films Breaking the Silence (2000) and The Story of Qiu Ju (1992), she is also notable for her Hong Kong Film Award-winning work in Curse of the Golden Flower (2006). While studying at Beijing's Central Academy of Drama, she was cast as the lead character in her debut film, the Zhang Yimou-directed feature Red Sorghum.