[1] In March 1952 he was considered a very promising young player and was selected into the national soccer training center despite already still being in school.

By 1957 Nian Weisi would be promoted to the senior side and take part in China's unsuccessful 1958 FIFA World Cup qualification.

[2] His footballer career however was cut short on 25 July 1959, when he sustained a broken left leg.

When China started to reopened itself to the world, Nian Weisi had built a team that was able to compete in the 1976 AFC Asian Cup, where he led them to third in the competition, though he would leave shortly afterwards.

In 1979, he was given a position at the Chinese Soccer Association; however, Nian Weisi would find himself returning to the national team again in 1980 to help them for the 1980 AFC Asian Cup.