Yan began her career with guest roles in two historical films, including Reign Behind a Curtain (1982) and The Burning of Imperial Palace (1982).

[2] In 1986, she appeared as Xue Baochan in Wang Fulin's Dream of the Red Chamber, adapted from Cao Xueqin's classical novel of the same title, the series was one of the most watched ones in mainland China in that year.

In 1991, she played the role of Yue Rong, a singer, in the film Divorce Contract, for which she received a Best Supporting Actress nomination at the 14th Hundred Flowers Awards.

In 1998, Yan played a supporting role in the wuxia television series The Return of the Condor Heroes, starring Richie Ren and Jacklyn Wu and directed by Young Pei-pei.

[1] Yan had a supporting role in The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber (2003), a wuxia television series starring Alec Su, Alyssa Chia and Gao Yuanyuan.