As of May 2024, Tang has spent 279 days in space, and held the Chinese record for the longest spaceflight duration until surpassed by Ye Guangfu later in the same year.

[2] He was born into a family of farming background in the town of Yunhuqiao, Xiangtan County, Hunan in October 1975.

He was selected for the second group of astronauts at Nie's division in May 2010 then was chosen in May 2016 as an alternate for the two-member crew of the Shenzhou 11 mission.

[7] On 4 July 2021, Tang and Liu Boming, another crew member of Shenzhou 12, completed the first extravehicular activity of Tiangong space station.

[8] Later he flew again to Tiangong on the second mission and first as the Commander on Shenzhou 17 with Jiang Xinlin and Tang Shengjie on 26 October 2023.