Wei was born in Canton, China. Her formal art education began at Guangzhou Academy of Fine Art, one of only six art colleges in China. There the artist fulfilled her childhood dream of learning to paint from many of China's masters and renowned teachers. Fascinated by the French Impressionists, Wei sought to master the subtleties of light and shadow and concentrated on developing methods of using rich color to capture light in her work. After concluding her studies in China in 1982, the artist came to the United States to obtain further instruction at the Massachusetts College of Art and completed a degree in Fine Arts in 1985.

Wei's painting is a unique blend of Eastern and Western influences, combining the elegant line and rich pattern of traditional Chinese painting with Impressionist subject matter and style.