Three years later, he was transferred to the Arts and Crafts Studio under the Light Industry Bureau of Anhui Province. In 1965, he was sent to work in Huainan Porcelain Plant. Han was again transferred to Anhui Artists Association in 1978 to engage in professional art work. For a period of time, he held the post of vice-president of Anhui Art Academy.

In 1979, Han was elected a member of the Chinese Artists Association. In the same year, he held solo art shows both in Beijing and Hong Kong. To date, he has held five one-man art shows in Beijing.

In 1980, Han Meilin's art was exhibited in the United States in 21 cities, including Boston and New York. He was given the key to the city of San Diego as an honorary citizen. Manhattan in New York declared October 1, 1980 as the "Han Meilin Day." During his stay in the United States, he was also invited to talk at Harvard University. In 1983, six of Han Meilin's works were selected to be printed on Christmas cards issued by the United Nations.

In 1986, Han was ranked as a first-class artist in China. The next year, he was granted the title of first-rate expert at the state level. The same year, he was selected as a delegate to the Sixth National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

In 1989, Han gave three successive art exhibitions at the Crown Art Center, Taipei, and produced his solo art tour in 17 countries. In 1991, his solo art show was hosted by Toronto, Canada. The next year, his solo art show went to Malaysia and Hong Kong. In 1994, he held an art show accompanied by lectures in India. In April of 1999, he accepted an invitation to speak at Yale University, where he won accolades from teachers and students.

The paintings of Han Meilin focus on animals and the human body. In recent years, he also drew some huge traditional Chinese paintings for the Macao Hall in the Great Hall of the People, State Council, National People's Congress and the CPPCC -- among which are the 17-meter-long (18.6 yards) Painting of Eight Horses, Twin Eagle Painting and Heavenly Steed.

Han Meilin is a diligent and prolific painter. He has published such painting albums as Meilin's Paintings, Art Works of Han Meilin, Mountain Flowers in Full Bloom, Still on the Earth, 100-chicken Paintings, Painting Collection of Han Meilin and Selection of Arts and Crafts Works of Han Meilin. He was once the art designer of paper-cutting cartoons such as Fox Capturing Hunter, Fox Sending Grapes and Hide-and-seek. He also designed the pig postal stamps for China in 1983, panda stamps for 1985 and the phoenix logo for Air China.

In recent years, Han Meilin has put most of his time and effort on colossal urban sculptures. The most prominent one of them is the Five-Dragon Clock Tower he designed for the 26th Olympic Games held in Atlanta in 1996. The 10-meter-high (10.9 yards) granite and cast copper sculpture is on permanent display in Atlanta's Century Park.

Han has also finished the Group Tiger for Dalian in Liaoning Province, No.1 Bull for Jinan and Cock Crows to Herald the Break of Day for Zibo in Shandong Province, Sacred Bull for Shekou and a bronze bull measuring 30 meters (32.8 yards) long, 20 meters (21.9 yards) high and inlaid with luminous pearl and the King of Western Chu (Xiang Yu) made of stainless steel which is 50 meters (54.7 yards) both in height and width for Shenzhen in Guangdong Province.