On 10 March 2010, Gao transferred to Guangzhou Evergrande, who were newly relegated to China League One in the fallout of a match-fixing scandal. However, the club's new owners, Evergrande Real Estate Group, were able to tempt Gao with a lucrative 3,000,000 yuan a year deal to play within the second tier. He made his debut for the club on 3 April 2010 in a 3-1 against Beijing BIT, also scoring his first two goals for the club. On 30 October 2010, Guangzhou successfully finished as second tier champions for the second time with a 3-1 win against Hunan Billows. Gao's first half hat-trick in this match ensured that he finished the season as the second tier top goalscorer, having scored 20 goals.