Yan likes to work at night，because she can focus when the outside is quiet. She also works at least 14 hours a day，but she's energetic，because research is the most "comfortable” job for her，according to an interview with People magazine.

This devotion to her work probably helped Yan in her research to identify the structures of proteins in cells' plasma membranes，which puzzled scientists for half a century. Her achievements got her listed among the journal Nature's Science Stars of China in 2016.

Yan also enjoys TV dramas and classic novels. Surprisingly，the novel Journey to the West inspired her to become a structural biologist. In the book，the Monkey King turns into other animals. She wondered what it would be like to change herself. Luckily. Yan now lives in that world every day，exploring how proteins work at the level of atoms. “It was almost destined（命中注定的）that I would become a structural biologist，"she said in an interview with Nature.

As she realizes her own dreams，Yan tries to encourage more women to follow careers（职业）in science. In her eyes，there is no difference between men and women in the scientific fields.

“Women can work as excellently as men and live the way they choose to，"she said in a public interview.