The original singer of the song "Nanniwan" was Guo Lanying and the chorus of the music and dance epic "The East is Red".
"Nanniwan" is a song sung by Guo Lanying and the chorus of the music and dance epic "The East is Red", recorded in 1965. It is included in the album Selected Solos by Famous Singer Guo Lanying, released on January 1, 1984 by China Record Group Corporation.
On August 26, 2015, the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT) released the results of the online voting for "My Favorite Top Ten Antiwar Songs", and "Nanniwan" was one of the 10 songs selected.
Background
After much effort and meditation, the founders finally envisioned a rice-planting dance called "Pick the Flower Basket". Eight actresses take eight pairs of flower baskets and perform them on the stage of the episode. The last song lyrics were called Nanniwan. After receiving the task of creating the lyrics, poet He Jingzhi comprehensively conceived and wrote the lyrics by combining his deep understanding and experience of military and civilian production activities in the border areas.
The rice-planting song and dance "Picking Flower Baskets" was performed in mourning at Nanniwan, and it became very popular among all the officers and soldiers of the 359th Brigade. Wang Zhen happily walked onto the stage, shook hands with the performers and took pictures with them. The song "Nanniwan" was born.
Later, with the Shanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region's Brigade of Picking Flower Baskets, and especially after Guo Lanying sang it, the song quickly became popular in the border areas and spread throughout the country. The artistic career of the famous singer Guo Lanying also began.