Following the Communist seizure of power in China in 1949, popular music was considered ideologically suspect[2] and Yao fled to British Hong Kong in 1950 but continued her singing career with Pathé Records (EMI).

During the 1930s and 1940s, Yao Lee's high, soft singing style was typical of Chinese popular music of the time (influenced by her superstar idol, Zhou Xuan).

She performed numerous popular standards, such as Wishing You Happiness and Prosperity (恭喜恭喜), "I Can't Have Your Love" (得不到你的愛情), and "By the Suzhou River" (蘇州河邊) with her brother Yao Min, arguably the best-known Chinese pop songwriter of the shidaiqu era.

She was introduced to more Western popular music and became an admirer of American singer Patti Page, whom she emulated by lowering her voice and incorporating some similar vocal mannerisms.

Her 1959 song, "Rén Shēng Jìu Shì Xì"/"Life Is a Performance" (人生就是戲), is featured in the 2018 film, Crazy Rich Asians, in the scene when the matriarch grandmother, played by veteran Chinese American actor Lisa Lu, first appears.