In 1986 she played Xiao Xiao in Xie Fei's "A Girl from Hunan", which was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival, and was one of the first mainland Chinese films to be commercially screened in the United States. The film is based on a 1929 short-story, "Xiao Xiao" (or "Hsiao Hsiao"), by author Shen Congwen. "A Girl from Hunan" tells the story of a willful young girl (initially played by Lin Qing and played as an adult by Naren Hua) who, at the start of the film, is about to enter into an arranged marriage with a two-year-old child, Chun Guan. Xiao Xiao, the girl in question, is only twelve. She lets herself be seduced by a farmhand and soon finds herself pregnant. Knowing that the traditional village still executes women for adultery, Xiao Xiao is desperate to abort the baby but fails to accomplish her goal.