[6] Guan first gained attention when she starred in Nuan,[7] adapted from author Mo Yan's short story, The White Dog and the Swing.

[8] Guan rose to prominence as a child actress through Chen Kaige's film The Promise, playing the younger counterpart of Cecilia Cheung's character.

[15] Both series earned high ratings in China, and Guan won the Best Supporting Actress award at the Shanghai Television Festival for her performance in To Be a Better Man.

[16] She also starred in her first adult leading role in the fantasy drama Novoland: Castle in the Sky,[17] and won the Best Actress award at the 7th Macau International Television Festival for her performance.

[18] In 2017, Guan played the female lead in fantasy action drama Xuan-Yuan Sword: Han Cloud and romance comedy series Love of Aurora.

[28] In 2017, Guan became the ambassador for "World Life Day", a joint campaign by the United Nations Environment Programme, International Fund for Animal Welfare and The Nature Conservancy.