Yan Xiaoping is a playwright and director. She completed her undergraduate, master's, and doctoral studies at the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts, Peking University, and the Chinese National Academy of Arts, respectively. She is also the first doctoral candidate in China to specialize in both Chinese opera literature and Chinese opera performance.

Her works include the plays I Am an Actor, The Wanhuoguan, Entering the Landscape of Snow and Cold Forest, and Nine Songs, the vocal cycle The Great Wall, and the Kunqu opera Snow in Chang'an. Her work has been selected for the China Original Play Festival, the National Experimental Theater Chinese Opera Festival, the Shanghai International Arts Festival, and the Beijing Fringe Festival, among others. She has also presented work in unconventional spaces such as the China Intangible Cultural Heritage Museum, the Tianjin Museum, and the former site of the French Municipal Council in Tianjin.

Her scripts have been translated into German, Romanian, and Italian. She has received support from the China National Arts Fund, the Beijing Cultural Arts Fund, and the Shanghai Major Literary and Artistic Creation Project Fund.