My Family History

                       Liang Ping  梁萍

Liang Ping  was born, Liang Ai-yin,  in Tangshan Bay, Zhongshan, Guangdong province. She was the 4th child in the family with 3 brothers. Her father was a tea merchant, and her mother was a Catholic.  Liang became a devout Catholic.  She grew up in Shanghai. After graduation, she went to the Shanghai National Music Institute to study vocal music, music theory, piano and choral skills. She was a mezzo-soprano, and treated her songs with a classical interpretation, a jazz delivery, and occasionally a traditional ballad style. In addition, she wrote lyrics and was  an all-around singer. Kolinian record company set a long-term contract with her. She sometimes sang on radio with Yao Li.

Her famous songs in Shanghai include "My Boy in Juvenile", "Zhaojun Resentment" and "Spring Comes to People", etc. These songs were still widely sung by the 1960s and the 1970s. In addition, "Unprivileged Daddy" (a composer of her own), "Jingle Bells" chorus with Yao Min and "Over Bridge" adapted from London Bridge are also popular. She recorded 30 songs before moving  to Hong Kong in 1951. She lived near Happy Valley. Apart from being music teacher at Ren Pei-yuan Secondary School, she also received eight private children. In addition, she continued to record albums for the Kolimbian company (masterpieces "Busy", "Peach Blossom" and "Two Dependents" etc.) Sometimes she sang in concerts. She disliked the average person's disdain for the era. "If one day I was elected, I would work harder on music and let the community get a deeper understanding of the times."

Her favorite outdoor pursuits were swimming activities. She spoke fluent  Mandarin, Cantonese and Shanghainese, and spent three hours a week studying English. In one beauty music pageant, in  Repulse Bay party, she and Wang Yu in front of other beauties sang both Chinese and English songs to great applause. She made it to the the semi-finals, but missed the final. She also lived in Singapore for some time, and in 1971 she emigrated to the USA where she taught in San Francisco.