Ni made her debut in Zhang Yimou's The Flowers of War, playing the lead female character "Yu Mo". Ni was eventually chosen, and became a new "Mou girl" like Gong Li and Zhang Ziyi.
Ni was born in Nanjing, Jiangsu. She graduated from the Communication University of China, specializing in television broadcasting and hosting.
A cat lover.
Along with actresses Angelababy, Yang Mi and Liu Shishi, Ni Ni was chosen as the one of the New Four Dan Actresses in 2013.