That year, Guangzhou Evergrande Group made a painful decision to wave goodbye to many veterans, including Gao Lin, who was transferred to Shenzhen. His income was drastically reduced due to the salary restriction policy that year, but given his outstanding performance at the 2019 Asian Cup, he was still able to earn a top salary of 10 million yuan, with a 20% float on top of that, for a combined annual salary of 12 million yuan. After moving to Shenzhen, Gao Lin purchased an impressive property in the upscale residential area of Shenzhen Bay 1. The mansion has an excellent view of Hong Kong's glittering night view from the window, and it is reported that the price of the property in the neighborhood starts at more than 40 million yuan.
Gao Lin once reflected: "The reason why I can earn such a high income is because I am at the top of this industry. If there were a hundred or a thousand players in China who were better than Gao Lin, the level of the Chinese national team would soar. If there were a thousand Zheng Zhi's and ten thousand Gao Lin's in China, then I'm afraid players like me would no longer be so visible."
