Her best years as a player overlapped those of the slightly older Susi Susanti and Bang Soo-hyun, in what some see as a "golden" era in women's badminton.

She retired after the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, and in 2002, she started a new career as a golfer, trained at the Tian An Golf Club.

[4] On the 31st anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests in 2020, Hao uploaded a video calling for the overthrow of the Chinese Communist Party.

She ended up losing in 2 sets to Gong in the semi-final, and went on to win the bronze medal after defeating Dai Yun in the playoff.

"[6] After the entire incident in 2020, family and friends have turned their backs on Hao and Ye, and that they have been blocked by their former teammates on Chinese social messaging platform WeChat.