[6][7] Zhang shed her gentle and quiet image to play the rebellious and gutsy protagonist in Huayao Bride in Shangri-la (2005), and won the Beijing College Student Film Festival for Best Actress.

[2][10] In 2006, Zhang was cast as the tough-talking heroine in the Finnish-Chinese kungfu movie Jade Warrior, directed by A. J.

[12] Zhang won over the audience with the maturity she shows in her acting, and her extraordinary ability to touch hearts by interpreting the different stages of a Chinese woman's life.

[6] Zhang worked with German director Florian Gallenberger in the film John Rabe (2008), where she plays a college student whose family suffers in the Japanese invasion of Nanjing.

Her portrayal of the protagonist Ling, a woman who struggles with an abusive husband won rave reviews from critics and was described as a "turning point" in her career.

[17] Zhang next starred in Feng Xiaogang's disaster film Aftershock (2010), playing a girl who separates from her mother after the Tangshan earthquake and becomes a rescue worker.

She is the ambassador of the charity SiyuanAOC Rainbow Plan, founded by China Siyuan Foundation for Poverty Alleviation and AOC Monitor.

[19] Zhang then took a six-month break from the entertainment industry, stating that she was disappointed by the commercial nature of her recent roles.