Teresa Teng once had a wide fan base in mainland China despite never having set foot in the country. (Photo : Flickr)
A biographical television series based on the life of iconic Taiwanese pop singer Teresa Teng is reportedly in the works between producers in Taiwan and the Chinese mainland, as reported by China Daily.
The Xinhua News Agency also reported the development, citing Teng Chang-fu, the singer's elder brother, who is in charge of her estate.
According to Xinhua, Hunan Satellite Television, one of China's most watched TV stations, will be involved. Production is expected to begin in late 2016.
Teng notably never went to mainland China. However, she was influential in post-Cultural Revolution China.
Teng's songs about love reintroduced the idea of music as a form of personal expression in a country where all the songs were made to forward communal goals, according to the Communist Party of China.
These love songs were never broadcast on mainland radio because they were unofficially banned for being "bourgeois decadence." However, Teng's songs spread with the introduction of cassette tapes.
When mainland China further opened its doors to foreign influences, Teng was no longer forbidden. There were numerous efforts to get her to perform in the mainland, but the government always intervened, ensuring that they never happened.
Teng's music fused Chinese folk music and various styles of pop music, making her appeal to almost every demographic. She was also gifted with languages, singing songs in Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien, English, Japanese and Indonesian.
Teng's legacy includes a feature film, "Comrades: Almost a Love Story," which focused on one of her signature songs, as well as a musical and concerts that feature Teng impersonators.
"The Moon Represents My Heart," one of the most recognizable Chinese songs in the world, is a melody popularized by Teng.
