Yang began writing traditional Chinese poetry while working in the countryside, despite this genre of poetry being officially proscribed under the rule of Mao Zedong. In 1979, he became involved with the group of poets writing for 'Today' (Jintian) magazine, and his style of poetry developed into the modernist, experimental style common within that group.

The 'Today' group attracted considerable controversy during the early 1980s, and the initially derogatory term of 'Misty Poets' was applied to them at this time. In 1983, Yang's poem 'Norlang' (the name of a waterfall in Tibet) was criticised as part of the Anti-Spiritual Pollution Campaign, and a warrant was put out for his arrest. He managed to escape after a tip-off from friends; the campaign ended shortly afterwards.

Yang began to travel overseas after 1986, including visits to Australia and New Zealand. Yang Lian was in Auckland, New Zealand at the time of the Tiananmen incident, and was involved with protests against the actions of the Chinese government. His work was blacklisted in China shortly after June 4, 1989, and two books of his poetry awaiting publication there were pulped. A short time later, Yang's Chinese citizenship was revoked. He requested a new passport so that he could travel abroad, but Chinese authorities refused to issue one for him, and he was granted refugee status in New Zealand.

Since that time, Yang Lian has held writers' fellowships in Australia and Germany, and has travelled broadly. Although he has retained New Zealand citizenship, he has lived in London since 1993.

Along with fellow Misty Poet, Bei Dao, he has reportedly been nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature. He received the Flaiano International Prize for Poetry in 1999.

Since 2005 he is Professor at European Graduate School in Saas-Fee, Switzerland and Artistic Director of the Unique Mother Tongue series of international poetry-arts events held periodically in London.

• Where the Sea Stands Still: New Poems by Yang Lian Translated by Brian Holton, Newcastle: Bloodaxe Books (1999)
• Non-Person Singular: Collected Shorter Poems of Yang Lian. Translated by Brian Holton, London: WellSweep Press (1994)
• Concentric Circles. Translated by Brian Holton and Agnes Hung-Chong Chan, Tarset:Bloodaxe Books, (2005)
• Notes of a Blissful Ghost. Translated by Brian Holton, Hong Kong:Renditions Paperbacks(2002)
• Unreal City (2006)

"Riding Pisces: poems from five collections" Translated by Brian Holton, Exeter:Shearsman (2008)