Ao Li studied singing at the Shandong University. He was a member of the Merola and Adler programmes at the San Francisco Opera. His engagements included the roles of Lorenzo in ‘I Capuleti e I Montecchi’, Masetto and Papageno in ‘Don Giovanni’ and ‘Die Zauberflote’, as well as Uberto in ‘La serva pardona’, and Belcore in ‘L'elisir d'amore’.

In 2013, Ao Li won 1 prize at the Placido Domingo’s Operalia, the World Opera Competition in Verona (Italy).