In the late 1920s and 1930s, Chang moved to Beijing where he befriended other famous artists, including Yu Feian, Wang Shensheng, Ye Qianyu, Chen Banding, Qi Baishi, and Pu Xinyu. Chang had collaborated with Pu on painting and calligraphy. At the time, there was an idiom "Chang from the south, Pu from the north (南張北溥)" for those two of the most renowned artists in China. There was also a saying that Chang was "southern counterpart of Pu Xinyu in shan-shui painting, Qi Baishi in flower-and-bird painting, and Xu Cao in figure painting".