Qingnian Tang was among the break-out artists to China who were forced into political exile, or not able to return, after the events following the Tianamen Square uprising. In the mid-1980s, Tang was at the forefront of China's "New Wave" art movement. After graduating from the prestigious Central Academy of Art and Design, he went on to serve as art critic and as vice director of the editorial department for the professional Chinese Art magazine Meishu (Art Monthly). He was a member of the organizing committee and one of the primary exhibition coordinators for the China Avant-garde Exhibition held in Beijing in February, 1989. At the time this was the largest non-government art exhibition held in China since 1949. The exhibition was shut down twice and became an important international news event. Since relocating to the USA in 1991, he has been engaged with various visual creations for different media. In 2006 he left his position as associate creative director of an advertising agency to dedicate himself to painting full-time.