Bai Zijian is an ethnic Korean Chinese who would predominantly concentrate on his studies before moving into football where with the help of a family friend and former professional footballer Wang Chao, he was able to enroll with second tier football club Shenyang Dongjin's youth team.[1] Very little would come from his period with Shenyang, however he would be scouted by the Chongqing Lifan manager Li Shubin who was impressed by Bai and would sign him as a youth player. Despite joining a top tier football club and being promoted to the first squad, Bai actually saw no playing time throughout the entire 2010 season.[2] Often spending most of the season as a translator for teammate Cho Se-Kwon, Bai's time at the club was cut short when Li Shubin was sacked due to a poor run of results and Bai was surplus to requirements at the end of the season.
Almost giving up on football and returning to his education, Bai was persuaded to go to a training session held in Guangzhou for K-League side Daejeon Citizen and impressed the team's manager Wang Sun-Jae who would sign the player on 14 February 2011 after a successful trial.[3] He made his debut for the club on 6 March 2011 in a league match against Ulsan Hyundai, coming on as a substitute for 90th minute in a 2-1 victory.[4] After a one-year stint, Daejeon made a decision to not extend his contract. He then joined South Korean second division club Goyang KB in February 2012 and received little playing time at the club throughout the season.
