She received recognition for her roles in TV dramas The Return of the Condor Heroes (2006), Chinese Paladin 3 (2009), and The Dream of Red Mansions (2010).

She achieved her breakout success starring in the time-travel TV drama Palace 1 (2011), followed by the surprise hit Mysterious Island (2011), for which she was credited with ushering China's entertainment industry into the "fan economy.

[4][5][6] In 1990, at the age of four, Yang made her acting debut in the historical television series Tang Ming Huang directed by Chen Jialin, playing the role of young Princess Xianning.

[11] In the late 2000s, Yang started to gain increased attention and popularity with her roles as Nie Xiaoqian in legendary drama Strange Tales of Liaozhai (2005),[12] and Guo Xiang in wuxia drama The Return of the Condor Heroes (2006),[13] In 2007, Yang played the titular role of Wang Zhaojun in the eypnomous television series, which was broadcast on CCTV.

[16] In 2010, Yang starred in Li Shaohong's adaptation of the classic novel The Dream of Red Mansions, and received positive reviews for her portrayal of Qingwen.

[17] The same year, she starred in big-budget historical series Beauty's Rival in Palace, winning acclaim for her role as a cold assassin.

[25] However, the films failed to live up to the success of Mysterious Island, and Yang was named Most Disappointing Actress at the Golden Broom Awards for her performance in Wu Dang.

[26] In 2012, Yang starred in Beijing Love Story, a modern romance drama directed by Chen Sicheng; where she played a prideful gold digger.

[29] Yang was then announced to play the leading protagonist Lin Xiao in the Tiny Times film series, based on Guo Jingming's best-selling novel of the same name.

[47] In 2017, Yang starred in Eternal Love, adapted from the xianxia novel Three Lives Three Worlds, Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms by TangQi GongZi.

[49] She then starred in science fiction thriller Reset produced by Jackie Chan,[50][51] which led to her win for Best Actress at the 50th WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival.

[60] The same year, she was cast in the fantasy suspense film Assassin in Red directed by Lu Yang; where she would play the role of an antagonist.

[69] On 25 March 2021, Yang cut ties with Adidas, after several companies including the brand announced its decision to not use cotton sourced from the Xinjiang region due to concerns of Uyghur forced labour.