Whisper in the garden

Yesteryear's pop star Mao Amin is set to hold a 'reunion' concert with her fans in Beijing, Chen Nan reports.

Singer Mao Amin was in Beijing to promote her upcoming concert, with her radish.

"Farming is one of my biggest hobbies. I plant vegetables in my backyard and I want to share them with all of you," Mao, 52, told her audience at the Imperial Granary theater during a media conference last week, when she appeared with vegetables in hand.

The concert will be staged at the Capital Indoor Stadium on Dec 31.

The pop singer rose to fame after performing her song Missing at CCTV's Spring Festival Gala in 1988.

But making her own choices gives her the most joy, she says.

"I am in the most comfortable place in my life (right now)."

The concert, she says, will be a "reunion" for her and her fans. She will perform hit numbers from 26 albums, taking the audience down memory lane.

Since the singer once led fashion trends with her appearances on TV, she will put on retro clothing that captures the romance and glamour of the 1970s, such as a suit jacket with thick shoulder pads and a straight long-sleeve gown.

Five years ago, Mao held a sold-out concert on New Year's Eve in Beijing, which was her first solo concert in 30 years. Last year, she gave another show in Nanjing in East China's Jiangsu province, which was also a big draw.

"When I performed onstage, the audiences shouted my name. It was an unbelievable experience," Mao says.

"I'm not looking for attention, for more success or money. I'm just singing songs because I love them."

When she prepared for the concert, she made a list, including the theme song of the popular soap opera, Ke Wang (Aspirations), China's first long-running TV series broadcast in 1990, which had an audience of about 550 million, and Green Leaf and the Root, which won her top honors at the Yugoslavian International Musical Eisteddfod in 1987.

The song also paved the way for more Chinese pop singers to participate in international competitions.

Born in Shanghai in a working-class family, Mao was interested in singing since childhood and she learned different songs, from pop to Peking Opera, by listening to radio.

Mao was discovered by renowned songwriter Gu Jianfen when she was 20 and working at a Shanghai chemical plant. She became a solo singer in a song-and-dance troupe of the People's Liberation Army in Nanjing three years later.

Recalling the success she has achieved since then, Mao is grateful for both the quality of songs written for her and the loyalty of her fans.

But there were problems along the way. In 1996, she and her ex-boyfriend, who was also her agent back then, got involved in a tax scandal.

After that, she withdrew from the limelight and lived in Canada and the United Kingdom, where, she says, she found inner peace again and her current husband.

During the past 10 years, as a mother of two, Mao has lived a low-key life.

She released an album, Tune of Voice, in 2011 and starred in Chinese rock star Cui Jian's directorial debut film, Blue Sky Bones, in 2014.

She also participated in Hunan Satellite TV's reality show, Divas Hit the Road Season Two, in April.

When asked if she would release a new album, Mao says: "Now, listening to music and consuming music are quite different from what they were in the 1980s and '90s.

"I am not sure about my schedule of bringing out new songs, but one thing is for sure

when you have a happy family, singing becomes a pure pleasure, rather than something you have to do."