 In 1949, as it was becoming clear that Mao Zedong's Communists were winning the Chinese Civil War, Xu Lai moved her family from Shanghai to British Hong Kong, while Tang Shengming went to Changsha to join the surrender of Hunan Governor Cheng Qian to the Communists. His brother Tang Shengzhi also surrendered. In 1950, Tang Shengming was appointed deputy commander of 21st Group Army of the People's Liberation Army and fought battles against the Kuomintang troops in Guangdong and Guangxi provinces.
