Due to pathological conditions in her blood vessels near the dura mater of her spine, she underwent six major operations to have six of her spinal plates removed between 1960 and 1976.
She learned multiple foreign languages, including English, Japanese, German, and Esperanto, and became a translator and writer.
[1][2] Zhang worked at Chengguan Hospital in Shen County, Shandong, and as a radio repairwoman for the local broadcast station.
[2] She is a member of the China Writers Association and was a visiting scholar at the Internationales Künstlerhaus Villa Concordia in Bamberg, Germany, from 2007 to 2008.
[2] In November 2008, she was elected Chairperson of China Disabled Persons' Federation (CDPF),[3] succeeding Deng Pufang.