Zhang became the first Chinese female to debut in South Korea with the release of her single "Timeless" in 2006, which later reached number one on music charts.

Zhang was so interested in classical, American, and European pop music that she claims she never sang children's songs when she was a child.

When she was twelve, she was accepted into a middle school affiliated to Sichuan Conservatory of Music after scoring the highest with her violin talents, but she opted to become a singer instead.

The music video was a two-part installment, starring Lee Yeon-hee and Super Junior members Han Geng and Siwon.

This music video reveals her hardships during training; it also showed many behind the scenes clips of her promotion of "Timeless", including never-before-seen footage of her with Xiah.

Zhang made a surprising guest appearance at TVXQ's second Asia tour concert in Seoul, South Korea on February 23, 2007.

Golden Melody Award-winning Taiwanese American singer-songwriter Leehom Wang complimented Zhang's singing and was surprised to hear such a strong voice coming from only a nineteen-year-old.

[10] During a radio broadcast, Hong Kong-based singer-songwriter, Hins Cheung compared her "soulful" vocals to well-known R&B vocalists such as Whitney Houston, Leona Lewis and Christina Aguilera.

[12] In her speech, she expressed wishes for more financial support towards the Sichuan earthquake that had devastated home province two weeks earlier.

[13] Throughout the months of May and June, Zhang attended many online interviews and made numerous variety show appearances, as well as a short university tour to raise money for the Sichuan earthquake.

[16] Her win was followed by numerous invitations to other award shows throughout the month of December, including the 2008 Tencent Star Ceremony,[17] BQ 2008 Celebrity Ranking,[18] and the 1st Annual Mengniu New Music Festival.

[20] She was also in Shanghai on January 9 to film for a song collaboration between many popular Chinese pop artists, such as Show Lo, Fish Leong and BoBo.,[21] On February 6, 2009, Zhang flew to Thailand for the second time in her career to attend the Bangkok concert stop in the SMTown Live '08 tour.

Less than 10 hours after the end of the Bangkok concert, Zhang flew with members of Super Junior-M to Guangzhou, Guangdong, China to participate in the 8th Annual Future Star Competition,[22] which also featured JJ Lin, Eric Tsang and Dicky Cheung.

Aside from a performance at the Descendants of the Dragon concert hosted by Jackie Chan,[23] Zhang was relatively inactive as she remained in South Korea to record her second single.

The music video features Zhang reflecting back on her memories of the fictional relationship between Donghae (of Super Junior) and herself before they break up.

[25] After three short months of promotions for "Moving On", Zhang announced on her Cyworld that she would be returning to South Korea on January 24 to prepare for her second Chinese album.

In June 2013, labelmate Zhou Mi posted on his official Weibo account hinting that a new album from Zhang may be forthcoming: "Good voices with great potential should not be buried; anticipating Liyin's transformation from a pupa to a butterfly!

"[28] On February 3, it was announced that SM The Ballad would make their comeback in the month after more than 3 years of hiatus, and Zhang would join Shinee's Jonghyun, Super Junior's Yesung, Super Junior-M's Zhou Mi, TVXQ's Changmin, Girls' Generation's Taeyeon, Exo's Chen, and Krystal from f(x) in promoting a new EP called Breath.

SM confirmed with Korean media outlets that two more labelmates, EXO member Tao and actor Song Jae-rim were added to the cast.

To support the release of her latest single, Zhang had a showcase in Beijing on September 22 with EXO members Chen and Tao with Tasty as special guests.

On February 28, 2017, on a live Yizhibo broadcast, Zhang revealed that her contract with SM Entertainment will expire in April 2017 and she decided to pursue her career in China.

[50] On June 18, 2007, DR Music filed a lawsuit against Zhang and SM Entertainment to get compensation for ₩200 million from terminating their exclusive contract.

[6] Like former label mate Han Geng, Zhang held an E-6 (entertainment industry) visa, for foreigners in South Korea.