Tia Zhang was a member of the first graduating class of Beijing Dance Academy. She majored in classical ballet and received training in both classical Chinese dance and Chinese folk dance. She was a lead dancer in The National Ballet of China and later taught at the Beijing Dance Academy. From 1981 to 2004, she taught at the National Ballet School in Toronto, Canada. After she started practicing Falun Gong, she became more interested in moral cultivation and the value of traditional culture. Since 2007, she has been a company manager for Shen Yun Performing Arts (currently managing the Shen Yun New Era Company). She is also the principal of Fei Tian Academy of the Arts. She has served as the Executive Vice President and a judge for NTDTV‘s International Classical Chinese Dance Competition (2007-2021).