Xie’s father,
Xie Hongjun (), is a retired footballer who played for Shanghai Team and the Chinese national team. His mother Zheng Yuru () was a
sprinter active in the 1950s. Xie Hongjun would move into coaching with the Beijing Youth Team while Xie Feng would progress through the organisation into the senior team by 1988. Initially when Xie Feng started his career at
Beijing FC (later renamed Beijing Guoan), he was a striker whose his ability to run 100 metres in 11 seconds was considered a great asset. His speed would be highlighted when he scored against both
A.C. Milan and
Arsenal in friendlies for Beijing Guoan in 1994 and 1995 respectively. Xie would be converted to a right-back by head coach
Jin Zhiyang to accommodate the striker
Gao Hongbo. The move would be a huge success for Xie and he would go on to win the 1996 and 1997
Chinese FA Cup with the club. After spending his whole career in Beijing, Xie joined another top tier club in
Shenzhen Pingan where he remained until at the end of the 2001 league season where he spent the whole campaign recovering from injury before deciding to retire from playing and take the advice of the club's Head
Zhu Guanghu and move into coaching. ==Management career==