Le Di first appeared on the cover of Great Wall Pictorial Issue 29, published in July 1953.

In 1953, Le Di joined Great Wall Film Production Limited as an actress. This was when the name "Le Di", meaning "the joyful bud", first appeared. It was an adaptation of her nickname "liu di", which sounds very similar to "Le Di" in the Shanghainese dialect. Having completed one month's training in Mandarin and performing, Le Di began her career by playing the role of Hou Kejian in "The Peerless Beauty", also starring Xia Meng, Ping Fan and Jin Sha.     During her days with Great Wall, Le Di played in 12 movies, namely: (a) "The Peerless Beauty" (1953) (b) "Tales of the City" (1954) (c) "Loves of the Youngsters" (1955) (d) "Diamond Thief" (1955) (e) "The Apartment for Women" (1956) (f) "Sunrise" (1956) (g) "Three Loves" (1956) (h) "A Widow's Tears" (1956) (i) "The Song of Harmony" (1957) (j) "Suspicion" (1957) (k) "The Chivalrous Songstress" (1957) (l) "Love Affairs of a Confirmed Bachelor" (1959)

A portrait of Le Di as Hou Kejian in her first movie "The Peerless Beauty".

    In 1958, when Le Di's contract with Great Wall expired, she joined The Shaw Brothers (Hong Kong) Limited where she took great steps forward in her career. Her first appearance in a Shaw Brothers production was in "The Magic Touch", which earned her the nickname of "The Classic Beauty". This was because she played the role of Lin Daiyu (one of the main characters in the Chinese classic Dream of Red Chamber) in one of her boyfriend's dreams.