Alyson Annan has learnt Mandarin and her Chinese women's hockey team have learnt to believe in themselves.

Australia's two-time Olympic champion admitted it was bitter sweet to knock her old strike partner Katrina Powell's Hockeyroos out of the Paris gold hunt in a shock 3-2 quarter-final upset.

"Mixed feelings ... I'd prefer this to be the final," she said.

It was a cagey affair, all the more because their old coach Ric Charlesworth - who won two Games golds at the helm of the powerhouse Australian side - is in Annan's red corner.

The pair have combined to lift China from No.14 in the world to No.5, the side back to the heights of Beijing's 2008 Games when they shocked with silver on home soil.

And they've travelled extensively to find enough opponents to play, edging Australia in a recent series in Perth to show Monday's result was no fluke.

A miffed Powell could only begrudgingly tip her cap after Chinese physical defence and "trickery" meant a sixth-straight quarter final exit since the team's Sydney 2000 gold.

"It's very special; you can't come in hoping. Come in confident, play your best and if you lose you're not good enough," Annan said.

"It's been in some ways a battle, other ways made me a better coach."

Annan, an Olympic champion in 1996 and 2000, quit as Netherlands coach in 2022 amid concerns over team culture and was swiftly picked up by China despite not speaking a word of their native language.

"Coaching is evolving every day; you're not just a coach and then that's it," Annan, who uses a translator to communicate with the team, said.

"It's this shared experience, this road.

"Some players here didn't speak a word of English when I got here.

"And now they can have a conversation in English, and same with me, now I can have a conversation (in Mandarin).

"It's been this really nice journey, but it's been tough and he's (Ric) tough.

"His record speaks for itself."

They'll play Belgium, who beat Spain, on Wednesday for a spot in the final.

"Everything is possible," Chinese goalscorer Dan Wen said.

"After all these years of effort, it's the start."

Argentina and the Netherlands will meet on the other side of the draw in a rematch of the Tokyo decider.