 Her 1938 "Chinese Children's Suite" for voice and piano was among the first works by a Chinese composer to become known in the West, as was her suite for orchestra, "Huainian Zuguo" ("A Commemoration of My Homeland").In 1950, motivated by a desire to help her homeland's development, and a wish to have a career of her own, Xiao returned to China with her three children, not knowing that she herself would not be able to see her husband ever again.From then until her death she taught in Beijing at the Central Conservatory.