Born in 1927 in Jining city of East China's Shandong province, Qiao Yu is an outstanding lyrics writer in the music creation circles.

"Let's pull on our oars, with the little ship pushing away the waves, my dear pals, who have arranged such a happy life for us…"

This song, named "Let's Pull on Our Oars," is familiar to almost everyone aged from 10 to 60.

Qiao Yu, an outstanding lyrics writer in the music creation circles [Photo/dzwww.com]

In fact, there are few songs that every one of such a wide age-span can sing. However, Qiao has written many of the few songs.

When speaking of Qiao, many overseas Chinese express their gratitude to him for relieving their homesickness with his songs about China - their motherland, and many famous singing stars in the Chinese mainland, such as Guo Lanying (known for singing Qiao's "My Motherland") and Mao Amin (famous for singing Qiao's "Unforgettable Tonight" and "Missing") tend to show their thanks for becoming famous by singing the songs he wrote.

In the Chinese mainland, Qiao is a household name, due to the numerous lyrics of universal popularity, from "My Motherland," the theme song for the film Shang Ganling in the 1950s to the recent "Sunset Glow."

Qiao has recorded in his lyrics the significant transformation of every historic era and the Chinese people's wishes at different times as well as his love for the country and its people.

Closely related to the pace of times and representing the voice of Chinese people, Qiao's songs tend to get popular among the general populace soon after being released. He is therefore honored as the "People's Artist."