One of China’s earliest online writers, she gained popularity with works that explore loneliness, urban life, and female sexuality, often termed as petite bourgeoisie literature.
In her early twenties, Li worked at a bank in Ningbo, but her distaste for the job led her to begin her career as an online writer in 1998.
In 2000, she began writing for the website Rongshuxia, which was one of China's first literary forums.
[3] In that same year, she published Goodbye, Vivian, a collection of short stories; this was her first print publication, and would sell half a million copies.
[4][5][6] Li has also worked as an editor of the literary journal Open and as a translator of children's books.