Teresa Teng

APA Top Ten: Teresa Teng songs

To mark the 15th anniversary of Teresa Teng's passing, Asia Pacific Arts reflects on growing up with the singer's music and revisits ten of her classic songs.

by Brian Hu

Date Published: 05/12/2010

Teresa Teng. Photo by Yanming. Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong. 2007.6

Thailand, May 8, 1995:

Legendary singer Teresa Teng passes away from an asthma attack. She was 42. In her homeland of Taiwan, Teng is given a state funeral.

Los Angeles, Summer 1995:

My dad brings back a magazine from Taiwan. I don’t remember what magazine it was, only that a woman whose name I didn’t know, but whose songs my parents memorized, was on the cover. That magazine stayed on our nightstand for weeks. I wonder if my dad still has that issue.

Hong Kong, November 2, 1996:

Peter Chan’s film Comrades Almost a Love Story premieres. The Maggie Cheung and Leon Lai romance traces contemporary Chinese migration from Beijing and Guangzhou to Hong Kong and New York City. Teresa Teng’s songs provide the Chinese title of the film (甜蜜蜜) and give cultural meaning to chance encounters across borders.

Taipei, August 2004:

I take a Chinese language class at a university in Taiwan. My classmates and I are all children of Chinese immigrants from throughout China and Taiwan, who have settled and raised family around the world -- from California to Texas to Boston to Paris. Though we can read only a smattering of Chinese, we find, during a fateful karaoke session, that we can all sing Teresa Teng’s “The Moon Represents My Heart.”

Las Vegas, May 8, 2010:

On a road trip to Vegas, two friends and I listen to Teng’s “Sweetie” which just happened to be on a CD mix in our car. I’m reminded that my dad used to listen to Teresa Teng’s music during our long road trips. Unbeknownst to us, 27 years earlier, Teng became the first Chinese female singer to perform in Las Vegas. We also don’t realize that it is the 15th anniversary of Teng’s death.


人生難得幾回醉

不歡更何待

(來來來　喝完了這杯再說吧)

今宵離別後

何日君再來

In life, rare is the occasion for indulgence,

Let’s not let this chance pass by.

Come… drink first talk later.

After you leave tonight,

When will you return?