As a juvenile from Shanghai, he progressed at all the levels of the Shanghai Shenhua youth football training system and was a stand out player before he graduated into the senior side. Making his debut in the senior team at the 1995 league season, at the age of 19 years old he made a big impression by scoring 6 league goals in 14 appearances that helped contribute to Shanghai Shenhua winning the league championship. He would cement his position within the team the following season when he played in a further 16 league games scoring 4 goals, however this was not enough from regaining the title and Shanghai unfortunately came second in the league to Dalian Wanda. During his seven seasons at Shanghai he was only able to add a Chinese FA Cup to his honors and despite coming runners up several times they were often beaten by the dominant Dalian Wanda.