However, by 1929, the government of the Shanghai French Concession forced the Shanghai Academy of Art to close. Fortunately, her older brother sent her money to move to Beijing and take supplementary courses so that she could eventually enroll in the Woman's Normal University in Tianjin. She passed the entrance examination and enrolled in the University by 1930. It was during this time that she entered into a common-law marriage with an ex-army comrade, Fu Hao (), with whom she had a daughter. Unfortunately, Fu Hao was arrested in 1930 because of his left-wing political views and Xie was forced to flee as well to avoid arrest by the Beijing government. She eventually left her daughter in the care of Fu's mother and went to Japan to continue her studies.