Career
Yu Hai started his football career with Shaanxi Chanba in the 2004 season and he made his debut for the club on 16 May 2004 in a 2-2 draw against Qingdao Etsong. Despite predominately playing as a substitute throughout the season, he played a significant part in Shaanxi"s third place finish at the end of the season. By the following 2005 season, he established as a player with rising potential within the team and was starting in considerably more games within the team
Before the start of the 2006-2007 season, Yu transferred to Eredivisie side Vitesse where he would make his debut for the club on 18 March 2007 in a 2-0 loss against Football Club Utrecht.
His time at Vitesse proved unsuccessful as he was unable to establish himself within the team He was released from Vitesse after the 2008 Summer Olympics due to cruciate ligament damage in his left knee which he suffered in July 2008.
Yu returned to Shaanxi at the start of the 2009 season where he played 29 league games and scored three goals by the end of the season. Foreign the next few seasons, he became a regular for the club
And by the start of the 2012 season, Yu followed the club when it decided to move to Guizhou and rename themselves Guizhou Renhe.
On 27 February 2015, Yu transferred to fellow Chinese Super League side Shanghai SIPG.
He would still eventually grauduate to the senior team when he returned to Chinese football and gained regular playing time with Shaanxi Chanba, his form for the club would see him make his international debut against on 4 June 2009 in a 4-1 loss against Saudi Arabia. This would then lead to a call-up for the squad that took part in the 2011 AFC Asian Cup. On 24 December 2014, Yu was named in China"s squad for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup.