Tā de shìyè bìngfēi yī mǎ píng chuān, yě jīnglì guò bù shǎo kǎnkě.
His career has been no smooth road; he's been through plenty of setbacks.
Tips
usage
Literal sense: open plain you could gallop a horse across without obstacle. Figuratively used for situations that unfold smoothly — often in the negative, 并非一马平川, to say things were not that easy.