Intro

Intro

~Teresa Teng was born on 29th January 1953.

~She was a Taiwanese Chinese pop singer.

~She was known for her folk songs and romantic ballads. Many became standards in her lifetime, such as "When Will You Return?" and "The Moon Represents My Heart".

~ She recorded songs not only in her native Mandarin but also in Taiwanese Hokkien,Cantonese,Japanese,Indonesian, and English.

~Teresa Teng a lifelong sufferer from asthma, died in 1995 from a severe respiratory attack while on holiday in Thailand. She was 42.

~Teresa Teng was born in Tianyang Village, Baozhong Township, Yunlin County, Taiwan on 29 January 1953, to mainland Chinese parents. 

~Her father was a soldier in the Republic of China Armed Forces from Daming, Hebei and her mother was from Dongping, Shandong. 

~She was the only girl, with three older brothers and a younger brother. 

~She was educated at Ginling Girls High School in Sanchong Township, Taipei County.

~As a young child, Teresa Teng won awards for her singing at talent competitions. 

~Her first major prize was in 1964 when she sang "Visiting Yingtai" from Shaw Brothers' Huangmei opera movie, "The Love Eterne" (梁祝), at an event hosted by Broadcasting Corporation of China. 

~She was soon able to support her family with her singing. Taiwan's rising manufacturing economy in the 1960s made the purchase of records easier for more families. With her father's approval, she quit high school to pursue singing professionally.

Career

~Teng's singing style conveyed simplicity and sincerity. 
~Her sweetness voice that made her famous. 
~She had a perfect voice for folk songs and ballads, and she added traditional folk song stylings into Western-style compositions.
~Teng's voice was "seven parts sweetness, three parts tears."

~Teng gained her first taste of fame in 1968 when a performance on a popular Taiwanese music program led to a record contract. She released several albums within the next few years under the Life Records label.
~ In 1973 she attempted to crack the Japanese market by signing with the Polydor Japan label and taking part in Japan's Kōhaku Uta Gassen, a year-round singing match of the most successful artists. 
She was named "Best New Singing Star". Following her success in Japan, 
~Teng recorded several Japanese songs.Which was later covered in Mandarin as "I Only Care About You".

~In 1974 the song "Airport" (空港) became a hit in Japan. Teng's popularity in Japan continued despite being briefly barred from the country in 1979 for having a fake Indonesian passport she purchased for US$20,000. 
~The subterfuge had seemed necessary due to the official break in relations between Taiwan and Japan that occurred shortly after the People's Republic of China replaced the ROC in the United Nations.

Death and commemorations

~Teng died from a severe asthma attack, though doctors and her partner Paul Quilery had speculated that she died from a heart attack due to a side effect of an overdose of adrenergic agonists while on holiday in Chiang Mai, Thailand, at the age of 42 (43 by East Asian age reckoning) on May 8, 1995.
~Quilery was buying groceries when the attack occurred. He was also aware that Teresa relied on the same medication in the two months before her death with minor attacks.
~ Teresa was an asthmatic throughout her adult life. Teng was given state honors at her funeral in Taiwan. President Lee Teng-hui was in attendance among thousands.

~Teresa Teng was buried in a mountainside tomb at Chin Pao San, a cemetery in Jinshan, New Taipei City (then Taipei County) overlooking the north coast of Taiwan. 
~The grave site features a statue of Teng and a large electronic piano keyboard set in the ground that can be played by visitors who step on the keys. The memorial is often visited by her fans — this represents a noteworthy departure from the traditional Chinese practice of shunning grave sites.

~To commemorate the 10th anniversary of her death, the Teresa Teng Culture and Education Foundation launched a campaign entitled "Feel Teresa Teng". 
~In addition to organizing an anniversary concert in Hong Kong and Taiwan, fans paid homage at her shrine at Chin Pao San Cemetery. 
~Additionally, some of her dresses, jewelry and personal items were placed on exhibition at Yuzi Paradise, an art park outside Guilin, China. The foundation also served as her wishes to set up a school or educational institute.

~In May 2002, a wax figure of Teng was unveiled at Madame Tussauds Hong Kong.

Personal life

~Teng had guarded her personal life from the public since 1987, fearing that it would jeopardize her career.
~She had a failed relationship with the son of a Malaysian gambling industry tycoon, that ended with his death when she was about 19.

~In 1982, Teresa was engaged to Beau Kuok(郭孔丞), a Malaysian businessman/CEO/Chairman (at the time with Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts) and son of multi-billionaire Robert Kuok. 
~They met in 1978, but Teng called off the engagement due to prenuptial agreements which said that Teng has to quit and sever all ties with the entertainment industry, as well as fully disclose her biography and her rumoured relationships in writing.

~Teng also had a high-profile rumored relationship with Jackie Chan, which resulted in failed farewell performances on Enjoy Yourselves Tonight in her attempts to fade out of entertainment business.

~In 1989, Teng met a French photographer Quilery Paul Puel Stephane in Paris. They spent 7 years together until her death. Paul revealed at an interview with Carol Cheng3 years after her death that they were engaged in a temple in Chang Mai, Thailand in 1995 and planned to marry in August.