"Tian Mi Mi" (; literally "very sweet") is a 1979 Mandarin Chinese song by

Teresa Teng Teng Li-Chun (; 29 January 1953 – 8 May 1995), commonly known as Teresa Teng, was a Taiwanese singer, actress, musician and philanthropist. Referred to by some as " Asia's eternal queen of pop," Teng became a cultural icon for her contributio ...

. The lyrics were written by

Zhuang Nu Zhuang Nu (; 22 February 1921 – 11 October 2016) is the pen name of Wang Jingxi (), a Taiwanese lyricist. Career Wang Jingxi was born in Beijing in 1921, and was admitted to the Beiping Zhonghua Journalism Academy (北平中華新聞學院) i ...

. The music was adapted from a 1940s gambang kromong about

sampan A sampan is a relatively flat-bottomed Chinese and Malay wooden boat. Some sampans include a small shelter on board and may be used as a permanent habitation on inland waters. The design closely resembles Western hard chine boats like th ...

boats called "Dayung Sampan" by the ''

pasindhèn A pasindhèn ( jv, ꦥꦱꦶꦤ꧀ꦝꦺꦤ꧀, translit=pasindhèn, pesindhèn) (informally ) is an Indonesian female solo singer who sings with a gamelan. They may perform in dance, wayang or ''klenèngan'' (pure music or "concert") performances ...

'' Dasimah. The film ''Tian mi mi'' (''Comrades: Almost a Love Story'') is named after and features the Teresa Teng song.

Recording and versions

In 1978, while on tour in Southeast Asia, Teng produced an Indonesian-language cover of "Dayung Sampan", a popular song in Indonesia and Singapore. In 1979, she was arrested in Japan and deported to

British Hong Kong Hong Kong was a colony and later a dependent territory of the British Empire from 1841 to 1997, apart from a period of occupation under the Japanese Empire from 1941 to 1945 during the Pacific War. The colonial period began with the Briti ...

for using an Indonesian passport, which Japan found had been obtained from the Indonesian embassy in Hong Kong under suspicious circumstances. Fearing punishment in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

, which was under an autocratic government at the time, for using an Indonesian passport, unable to return to Japan, and unable to stay permanently in Hong Kong, she went to the United States and became a student at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

. To fulfill her contractual obligation, she composed a Chinese cover of "Dayung Sampan" while studying, which became ''Tian mi mi''. Zhuang Nu (莊奴, 1922–2016), a Taiwanese songwriter, wrote the lyrics in roughly five minutes after being told he was writing for Teresa Teng. Although the song is indelibly associated with Teresa Teng, it has been recorded by many artists.

Luhan version

Chinese singer and actor

Luhan Lu Han (Chinese: 鹿晗, born April 20, 1990), also known mononymously as Luhan, is a Chinese singer and actor. He was a member of the South Korean-Chinese boy group Exo and its sub-group Exo-M, before leaving the group in October 2014. That ...

recorded the song for the soundtrack of the 2015 mainland Chinese release of the 1996 film '' Comrades: Almost a Love Story''. In January 2015, it was announced that Luhan would be singing the theme song for the film's release in China, according to Chinese media outlet

Sina Sina may refer to: Relating to China * Chin (China), or Sina (), old Chinese form of the Sanskrit name Cina () ** Shina (word), or Sina ( ja, 支那, links=no), archaic Japanese word for China ** Sinae, Latin name for China Places * Sina, Alban ...

. The movie, directed by Hong Kong filmmaker

Peter Chan Peter Ho-sun Chan (born 28 November 1962) is a film director and producer. Early life Chan was born in British Hong Kong to parents China. He and his family moved to Thailand when he was 12, where he grew up amongst the international Chines ...

, was originally released in 1996. Due to the political tension between Hong Kong and mainland China, however, it took 19 years for the film to be approved for release in China. A member of the production team explained, "Peter Chan asked hinese musicianDou Feng to arrange for the recording of a new version of the theme song, and requested that Luhan sing for the film's soundtrack." Director Peter Chan is said to have asked Luhan to participate due to his gentle and clear voice, as he felt it would be effective in expressing the emotions of the song. The song was officially released on 3 February 2015. A teaser video was released on 2 February 2015. The music video was released two days later.

References

{{Teresa Teng 1979 songs Teresa Teng songs Mandarin-language songs