 He attended Peking University at the age of 18 and majored in Chinese Language.He joined the Chinese Communist Party in 1949.By November 1979 when he had been elected as the vice-mayor of Beijing Municipality, he had served as the leader of a neighborhood committee, deputy head of a police substation, head of a factory workshop, secretary to (Beijing Municipality Communist Party 2nd Secretary), deputy head of a rural commune and Party Secretary of Changping County of Beijing.