Zhang went back to the martial arts genre in "House of Flying Daggers" (2004), again by Zhang Yimou, where she starred along Takeshi Kaneshiro and Andy Lau. She plays the blind dancing girl Mei, who despite the lack of eyesight, is a skilled fighter. In preparation for the part, Zhang spent two months living with an actual blind girl. Her performance earned her a Best Actress nomination at the BAFTA Awards. She also featured on the "House of Flying Daggers" soundtrack with her own musical rendition of the ancient Chinese poem "Jia Rén Qu" (佳人曲, "The Beauty Song").