She works in China and occasionally Europe, and has appeared in 10 films and several shorts since starting her career in 1999.

With Shun Li and the Poet (2011), she became the first Asian actress to win a prize at David di Donatello.

She received two Golden Horse Award nominations for Mountains May Depart (2015) and Ash Is Purest White (2018).

After graduation, she became a dance teacher in Taiyuan Normal College, where she was spotted by Jia during casting for Platform.

[3] Zhao won the David di Donatello Award, the Italian Oscar, for Best Actress for her bilingual role.