Tang Wensheng was born in New York, U.S.A, in March 1943. She returned to China in 1952 and graduated from the Department of English at Beijing Foreign Studies University (formerly Beijing Institute of Foreign Languages) in 1965. She is the daughter of Tang Mingzhao, the first Chinese who served as deputy secretary-general of the United Nations.

She has held several key positions, including deputy director-general of the Department of North American and Oceanian Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), deputy editor-in-chief of China Daily, director-general of the International Cooperation Department at the then Ministry of Railways, and vice-chairwoman of the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese (ACFROC). During her time at the MFA, she served as an English interpreter for top Chinese leaders such as Chairman Mao Zedong and Premier Zhou Enlai. She also served as vice chairwoman of the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation and executive vice-president of the Translators Association of China (TAC). She is currently an advisor to the ACFROC.

She was elected as an alternate member of the 10th and 11th CPC Central Committees and served as a member of the 10th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and deputy director of its Committee for Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, and Overseas Chinese. In March 2024, she was awarded TAC's Lifetime Achievement Award.