23 years on: Death can't do Teresa Teng and her Chinese fans part

During her career peak from 1981 to 1987, her songs dominated the Chinese market and could be heard playing virtually everywhere.

Nearly everyone at the time had a tape of her songs, playing hits like Tian Mi Mi (Very sweet) and Yue Liang Dai Biao Wo De Xin (The moon represents my heart) on loop. Teng's presence in the lives of Chinese people was concretized by the saying – "Wherever there are Chinese people, there will be Teng's songs."

But all beautiful things must end: Teng died of asthma in Thailand on May 8, 1995, and the tragic news fell like a bombshell on her fans and music lovers. But while Teng was gone, her heritage lived on: even today, 23 years after her death, programs about Teng are still running on television.

A museum to commemorate her was established in Taiwan, and she also inspired a theme restaurant in the Chinese capital Beijing.

People seem to keep Teng's memory alive in a multitude of ways, and she will always be one of the shining stars in Chinese culture.