At the 1999 Four Continents, Zhang became the first skater to land a clean quadruple toe loop in the short program at an ISU Championship. He has also landed quadruple salchows in competition. He is the second person to land three quadruple jumps in one program. At the 2006 World Championships, the day before his 30th birthday, he landed a 4T-3T combination and 4S in his free skate. He named Elvis Stojko as his idol in the sport.