Yao was born in 1969. He is member of Hunan Photographers Association, member of Hunan Art Photography Association and vice-chairman of Changde Photographers Association. In 1998, he published his maiden work "Moonlight" in Hunan Pictorial, which won a second prize. The same year, he was given the first prize in the candid photo contest depicting "a day's work of traffic police". Over the past 10 years, his works were published by People's Photography and Photographers' Companion. In February 2008, he was elected into the "Top Ten Photographers of Changde".