As an opera singer born in China, I have enjoyed a 15-years career singing abroad. During this long period, I have experienced the highs and lows of traveling, singing, and simply surviving. Much of time I was on my own and was sometimes very lonely. Often I was overcome with acute nostalgia for the beautiful Chinese melodies that I remember from my childhood. I thought many times how much I would love to present them to the West. As a full time singer performing in Western operas in Europe and North America, I had little opportunity to work on sharing my native music with the world. But now that, between concerts, I am often back in China, I have had time to properly prepare this great music, to sift through songs and make good selections.