Chinese star uses TV shows to reveal a new side

Sa, whose real name is Zhou Peng, developed an early interest in the ethnic culture and music of the region, where she lived as a child.

For the first six years of her life, Sa spent the summer traveling across the pasturelands of Inner Mongolia with her grandmother.

Later, she moved to eastern and then central China with her parents, before settling in Beijing, where she studied music at the People's Liberation Army Academy of Art.

Sa participated in the Ninth CCTV Youth Singers Competition in 2000, where she stood second.

Earlier, at 18, she had released two electronic music albums before she changed her name from Zhou Peng to Sa Dingding.

Meanwhile, Sa has spent years traveling to gain musical inspiration from ethnic regions.

Her album, Alive, released in 2007, was her big break that introduced her to Western audiences.

In 2008, she performed at the Royal Albert Hall and later launched a European tour.

Speaking about how Alive－in which she sings in Mandarin, Sanskrit, Tibetan and a self-created language－came about, Sa says: "When I look back, I can still recall when I proposed the idea to record companies, they told me that it was hard to categorize my music and that it (the album) would be very hard to sell.

"But now, more people listen to world music and they are open to a variety of genres. This gives me confidence to keep trying out my musical ideas."

Her new album will contain her latest explorations inspired by ethnic groups in Yunnan province, which she visited early this year.

Caralinda Booth, the A&R consultant at Universal Music China, who has been working with Sa since the singer joined the record company in 2006, says: "I am impressed by her voice and her music. I am proud of her, and I am looking forward to working with her for the next 10 years."