[3] He studied at the Yiyang Road Primary School in Qingdao, where he found that he preferred scoring goals to saving them, and in 2012 he finished second-top scorer, and was named "Campus Football Hope Star", at a youth tournament.
He scored his first goal for the club in a 2–0 Chinese FA Cup win over Henan Jianye on 18 September of the same year.
[6] His return to the first team for the 2021 Chinese Super League season was very successful, and despite only featuring in 179 minutes of football spread over ten games, he managed to score three goals.
[7] The trial was successful, and Tan was even included in the squad photo for the season, however Guangzhou reportedly requested ¥300,000 (€43,000) for youth training compensation, which Vojvodina were unwilling to pay.
[7][8] He returned to China, and was welcomed back by his former club, going on to feature at the end of the 2022 Chinese Super League season.