May 8th marks the 28th anniversary of Teresa Teng's death, and fans from around the world have been flocking to her resting place - Junyuan, Jinbaoshan, New Taipei City, Taiwan to mourn. For the past 30 years, Chinese people around the world, including those from both sides of the Taiwan Strait and Hong Kong and Macao, have commemorated Teresa Teng at regular times every year. This legendary singer seems to have never gone far. This year is also the 70th anniversary of Teresa Teng's birth, and some previously uncommon images have been discovered and posted on social media platforms, showcasing a different side of her familiar face, making her memories clearer. What cultural symbols does Deng Lijun carry that transcend the popular era? People are constantly commemorating, what are they commemorating? Bai Huiyuan, a lecturer at the School of Literature at Beijing Normal University and a specially invited researcher at the Museum of Modern Chinese Literature, recently accepted an interview with China News Agency on "East West Questions". The interview transcript is summarized as follows: China News Service reporter: In addition to being an important indicator in the cultural history of Chinese pop, what does Teresa Teng mean to Chinese across the Taiwan Straits and Hong Kong and Macao, including Chinese people around the world? Bai Huiyuan: The most important thing for Teng Lijun is to make Chinese people around the world hear about China. In the era of globalization, Chinese culture has transcended national borders. The Deng Lijun phenomenon helps us find a kind of coherence within Chinese culture and achieve cross regional empathy. I believe that Teresa Teng is one of the important iconic figures in the history of Chinese pop music in Hong Kong and Taiwan. But Teng Lijun is also very special because she is mainly a cover singer, and many songs have become widely circulated representative works through her performance. Deng Lijun's singing can be heard by Chinese people around the world based on four characteristics. Firstly, there is classicality. Teresa Teng has studied the Huangmei melody and released an album called "Faint Sentiment" based on Chinese classical poetry in 1982. The familiar song "Alone on the West Tower" comes from it, and she has been trying to transform Chinese classical culture into a contemporary one for a long time. Secondly, it is folk. She has covered Chinese folk songs such as "Fengyang Flower Drum", "Evening Breeze Flower Fragrance", and "Looking at Spring Breeze", showcasing the cultural and geographical features of different regions in China through her singing. The third aspect is urbanism, and some of her works are covers that reflect the era songs of Shanghai in the 1930s and 1940s, such as "Tianya Singer Girl" and "Four Seasons Song". Her singing style has a relationship of intertextuality and inheritance with Shanghai female singers such as Zhou Xuan. The fourth is Asian, and the familiar Indonesian folk song "Sweet Honey" originated from Japanese pop music, such as "Goodbye My Lover" and "I only care about you". Moreover, the most important thing is Chinese. Deng Lijun grew up in a family village. Her father was from Hebei and her mother was from Shandong. She has always emphasized her identification with her motherland and nation. China News Agency reporter: In the 1970s and 1980s, how did Teng Lijun's music radiate to Hong Kong and Southeast Asian society? Bai Huiyuan: Teng Lijun first grew up in Taiwan, and her music spread to Hong Kong. Later, she went to Japan, which itself presents a kind of liquidity in the era of globalization. Within Chinese culture, Deng Lijun's performance can evoke collective memories among audiences across different regions, just like the repeated singing of the "moon" in her songs, with emotional richness and powerful summoning power. Of course, when passed down in different regions, Deng Lijun's meaning to people also varies slightly