"My Motherland", first aired on a radio station

"My Motherland," the theme song of the film "Shang Ganling", is one of Qiao's masterpieces.

Written in the summer of 1956, the song was originally named "A Big River" by Qiao, but was changed to "My Motherland" by the editors.

When the song was finished, the Changchun Film Studio invited a number of folk singers to try singing it, but none of the singers distinguished themselves. Almost all of a sudden, Qiao hit upon Guo Lanying and suggested her.

It turned out quite good, with China National Radio recording the song. As people at that time were not so sensitive to copyright, the radio station aired the song prior to the screening of the film. Soon, the song was heard almost all over the country.