Born in Guangxi, she won her first international medals at the 1987 Asian Athletics Championships. She placed third in the 100 metres behind the more established Lydia de Vega and P.T. Usha but took the gold with the Chinese 4×100 metres relay team. She won the 100 m title at the Chinese Athletics Championships the following year and gained selection for the 1988 Seoul Olympics, where she was a quarter-finalist. The 1990 season saw her win a 100/200 metres double at the Chinese Championships and she ran in both events at the 1990 Asian Games. Hosted in Beijing, Tian became the Asian Games champion in the 100 m individual and relay events, as well as taking the bronze medal over 200 m. She continued to succeed on the regional stage the following year as she won the 100 m gold and relay title at the 1991 Asian Athletics Championships – the team of Pei Fang, Tian, Chen Zhaojing and Xiao Yehua set a championship record of 43.41 seconds for the event. She was chosen to compete at the 1991 World Championships in Athletics, but again did not progress beyond the quarterfinals.