Purpose: This paper aims to explore what Chinese doctors have learned in authentic medical practice, what they want to learn, and the dynamics behind their professional learning in working contexts. Design/methodology/approach: The paper uses Narrative Inquiry, qualitative data which were collected by open-ended face-to-face interviews and participative observation. Seven doctors from three hospitals in Shandong province were purposefully invited. Each participant was interviewed at least once, and all interview recordings were transcribed into research texts. The author narrated and re-narrated stories of one chosen participant named Li Hengyang (pseudonym). Findings: The paper finds that Chinese doctors divided their learning into two kinds: "professional" and "non-professional". The intrinsic-motive-driven learning of medical knowledge and techniques was attributed to "professional" and the extrinsic-motive-driven learning of "other things" was treated as "non-professional". The resultant force of intrinsic and extrinsic motives caused a performance disorder, a vague sense of professional identity, and involuntary expressive behaviours. The author finally pointed out that Chinese doctors' professional learning in working contexts is, to some extent, identity-oriented. Research limitations/implications: Single theoretical perspective constrained the analysis; future research may use different theoretical perspectives besides Goffman's theatrical performance theory. Practical implications: The paper presents identity-oriented learning of Chinese doctors and the dynamics behind it, which have practical implications for Chinese doctors, medical professional educators and national medical policy makers. Originality/value: Although Chinese doctors' training and education have been explored a lot, their professional learning in working contexts was rarely studied before. (Contains 2 figures and 1 table.)