But after only two years in Fuzhou, he quit school and joined the People's Liberation Army. Then, in 1955, Zhang tested into the Russian language department at Shanghai's East China Normal University (ECNU). In 1960, he was assigned to the First Subsidiary Secondary School of ECNU, where he taught until his retirement.
高二投筆從戎，加入中國人民解放軍，一九五五年，張思中考進上海華東師範大學俄語系，一九六○年分配到華東師大第一附屬中學任教，直到退休。