Roaming the areas around the earlier so vibrant Night Market of Chiang Mai at Chang Klang Road and its surroundings is a rather depressing sight at the moment. The pandemic made the whole area come to a standstill, and hotels so reliant on tourists in the area are empty or closed. Some hotels are trying to survive from their buffet arrangements on weekends or from selling croissants with all kinds of exotic stuffing. One hotel with an excellent track record is the Imperial Mae Ping hotel. Now closed, hopefully just for the renovation they announced, ideally situated just a few minutes walk from the market on Sridonchai Rd.
The hotel has been receiving guests since 1986. This is one of these hotels with a solid hotel culture on the walls. Even though there are fancier or more modern hotels around, you always know what you will get here, and the service would be flawless. This is also the hotel where Taiwanese born singer Theresa Teng(邓丽君; pinyin: Dèng Lìjūn) would come to let herself be inspired and write new songs.
Imperial hotel’s Teresa Teng Afternoon Tea experience
She would stay in a suite with perfect views of the Doi Suthep mountain, and the hotel preserved her room like a museum. Theresa Teng (Deng), suffering from severe asthma, had an attack in this hotel, and unfortunately, she couldn’t make it. So she passed away in the Chiang Mai Ram hospital. A few years ago, we inspected this suite for Chinese tour groups that we would host. The hotel started a program called the Theresa Deng Afternoon Tea experience.
A short introduction to her life, a visit to the suite, some of the story about the tragic day when she passed. And she was followed by afternoon tea in the lobby bar. This has been a significant attraction for many Chinese visitors to Chiang Mai.
From my years of working in China/Taiwan, I have come to comprehend her popularity and position in peoples life. Her success wasn’t limited to China either; she became grand in Japan, singing in Japanese. She was also a superstar in countries like Thailand and Indonesia.
Another story comes from my local guides in Taiwan. They used to say that Taiwan would smuggle tapes of recordings with Theresa Deng to the mainland as a kind of propaganda for a more accessible and fair life. As a matter of fact, in China, I often heard the expression below saying something about her popularity:
Deng Xiapoing rules in the day and Theresa Deng rules in the night.
邓小平执政于白天，邓丽君掌权于夜晚。
When she passed away, she even earned state honours for her funeral in Taiwan. State honours would usually be reserved for presidents and high politicians.
I have been on many tours in Taiwan where the selected music in the bus during long drives would be Theresa Deng, and I had local guides in both China and Taiwan wanting to sing a farewell song for clients, often their version of The Moon represents my heart. It has been called one of the most beloved Chinese love songs of all time.
It is hard to say if the Theresa Teng theme will return. But before all the Chinese tourism closed down, you could see the sign at other places in Chiang Mai. The signpost in Mae Hia about the Theresa Deng experience is still there.
Anyhow, the Tian Mi Mi mega-hit is, as some commentary concluded on YouTube, a song with a rhythm that transcends all cultures in Asia. This song was translated into many languages, including the Thai language. Therese Deng referred to as Asia’s Eternal Queen of pop, trendy in the 1970 and 1980s.
She was 42 years old when she passed away on her vacation in Chiang Mai on May the 8th, 1995.
Enjoy some footage from the funeral of May 28th 1995.