 His family owned the historic casserole restaurant Sha Guo Ju (砂锅居).When the restaurant was nationalized after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, he donated 17 properties under his name to the new government.In 1964, Wang was chosen to replace Zhang Zhenshi as the lead painter of the giant portrait of Mao Zedong hung on the Tiananmen (Gate of Heavenly Peace) in Beijing.