Come on…TERESA TENG was a great singer..let us refresh her – let’s visit Taiwan Teresa Teng’s Grave

The nearest Taiwan has to Graceland, the mountainside tomb of Teresa Teng – an immensely popular singer who died in 1995, aged 43 – attracts a stream of the lady’s most ardent fans.

Teng (known to ethnic Chinese as Deng Lijun) was born in Taiwan in 1953, and remains the most famous female singer ever in Chinese communities around the world. In the 1970s, she was hugely successful – first in Taiwan, then in Hong Kong and Japan.

She also made inroads in the US market, and was held in special affection by Taiwanese soldiers posted to remote islands. In the 1980s, millions of pirated copies of her albums sold in mainland China, although she refused to perform there for political reasons. Her father, who introduced her to various forms of Chinese opera when she was a child, was a former Nationalist soldier from the mainland.

When she died – following an asthma attack while on vacation in Thailand – the news was reported in Time magazine and the New York Times, as well as by every Chinese-language media on the planet.

The popularity of this tomb is also unusual because, in ethnically Chinese societies, burial sites are traditionally avoided, even by relatives of the deceased, except during the annual Tomb Sweeping Festival.

The memorial includes displays of Teng’s stage clothes, a white statue of the late singer, and – of course – recordings of her most famous songs. Because many of her fans are elderly, the area has been made wheelchair-friendly.

Address: No. 18, Sihu Village, Jinshan

TEL: (02) 2498-5900

Open Time Open 24 hours

Public Transit: There is no public transportation to this place.

Personal Transit The tomb is located on Jinbaoshan, where there are thousands of graves. From Jinshan, take Bei 22 up the hill, continuing almost to the ridge. You’ll soon see the cemetery.

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