Teresa Teng (January 29, 1953 - May 8, 1995) was one of the most famous singers in Asia, from Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China.
She was born in Yunlin County, Taiwan to a mainlander family originating from Hebei province.
She recorded several famous songs, including When Shall You Return? (Simplified Chinese: 何日君再来; Pinyin: Hé Rì Jūn Zài Li) (one of the revamped songs she sang). In addition to her Mandarin repertoire, she also recorded songs in the Taiwanese language (a variant of Min Nan), Cantonese, Japanese and English.
In 1983, for the first time in Chinese music history, she released her most-acclaimed album Light Exquisite Feeling (淡淡幽情) containing 12 poems from Tang and Song dynasties with various composers turning them into songs, such as Wishing We Last Forever/Shuǐ diào gē tu (水调歌头) and How Many Worries/Yu Mei Ren (几多愁/虞美人).
She performed in Paris during the 1989 Tiananmen student uprising, singing for the students and proclaiming her support for them and for democracy.
She covered many Japanese songs, including her own originals such as Airport (空港) and I Only Care About You (時A流れA身をAAA); most of which were re-written in Chinese lyrics, some in tribution to original artists like Southern All Stars.
Her songs have been covered by other singers, most notably Faye Wong who released a tribute album (Faye's Decadent Music) consisting entirely of cover songs originally done by Teresa Teng.
Teng enjoyed immense popularity all over Asia and particularly in Japan. Because her songs were so popular in Chinese Karaoke bars, it was said that "by day, Deng Xiaoping rules China, but by night, Deng Lijun rules".
She died from an asthma attack while on a trip to Thailand at the age of 42 on May 8, 1995. She was buried at a mountainside tomb on Jinbaoshan, Taipei County in Taiwan. A memorial was built at the tomb with a white statue of Teng and her stage clothes on display, with her music playing in the background. The tomb is well visited by her fans, a notable departure from traditional Chinese culture shunning visits to burial sites .
A house she bought in 1986 in Hong Kong at No. 18 Carmel Street also become a site of pilgrimage for her fans soon after her death. Plans to sell the home to finance a museum in Shanghai was made known in 2002 , and subsequently sold for HK 32 million. It closed on what would have been her 51st birthday on January 29, 2004 .
