Wang Luobin wrote the song in 1939 in Qinghai while shooting a film near Qinghai Lake. He met a young Tibetan girl, and wrote a song about the beautiful impression that she left upon him and all those around her. The song is set to the tune of Qayran jalğan (Қайран жалған) - a Kazakhfolk song - that Wang had collected in the area.[1][2]
It became one of the most popular songs in China and one of the best known Chinese songs in many countries. Wang Luobin first named this song as "The Grassland Love Song" (草原情歌), but the song has later become better known by its first line of the lyrics, "Zai Na Yaoyuan De Difang".[citation needed] The song is extremely popular in Japan where it is called "Love Song of the Steppe" (草原情歌, Sōgen jōka).[3]