Biography

When she was little, Yuquan was a lovely girl who was addicted to singing and dancing. She often gathered all the children in the neighborhood, and set up her bed as a stage to perform revolutionary operas. In addition to the eight so-called "revolutionary operas,” basically no other literature was allowed during the “Cultural Revolution” period.

Everyone said she was born with a golden voice, intelligent and a quick learner, she was able to sing and play an entire episode from beginning to end. Not only did she sing “Peking Operas”, but also Shaanxi opera (Qin Qiang).

After entering elementary school, Yuquan became the major player in the school’s "propaganda team" and often performed on stage or on the street.

The "Cultural Revolution" ended when Yuquan was in high school. At that time new trends had begun to move quietly into China. In the artistic area, one of the first trends introduced were songs by “the Queen of Heaven” – Teresa Teng from Taiwan. For people who had been hearing only the revolutionary operas for 10 years, Teng’s voice was like a spring breeze warming their hearts. Soon. Teng's songs quickly became very popular across the entire nation. Of course, with her love of music, Yuquan became obsessed as well.

Yuquan’s god-given voice easily allowed her to adopt the sweet singing style of the real Teng and many people were easily confused and convinced that she was Teng. Because of this, she was honored with the knick name of “Little Teresa Teng.”

Because the old Chinese society was in a transition of old and new things, the traditional ideology still had not been completely thawed, and very soon Teng's songs were characterized as "conscious" and "yellow songs" by the government and got banned throughout the country. Yuquan was caught up in this turmoil and was criticized by the school for singing Teng's songs. As a result, her scholarship was taken away.

At that time, Yuquan was studying in the No. 1 Middle School in Lanzhou  – the top high school in Gansu Province. The regulations stated that the students who were ranked the first two in any major exams would be awarded scholarships. Yuquan was ranked first 10 times and second twice. Even though she was so highly ranked and was qualified to get all the scholarships, she had her eligibility taken away at that time because her singing of Teng's songs was considered an ideological problem.

After graduating from the high school in 1982, Yuquan entered the University of Science and Technology of China (known as the Chinese MIT back to the old days), and began to major in Chemistry. At that time, she didn’t’ choose to pursue the Arts since the Chinese academic culture embraced “Math, Physics and Chemistry as everything you need.”

At USTC, in addition to studying her own major courses, Yuquan was still very interested in singing and dancing. Just like her days in elementary and high school, her primary love was still singing and dancing, and she continued to be widely recognized as a gentle and graceful dancer and singer. Because of her love of music and dance, Yuquan again became an active figure in the university’s Art group. She often participated in competition, and was presented with several awards in solo singing and dancing during the Anhui College Student’s Art & Literature Competition.

In 1987, Yuquan’s five-year student life came to an end. Her thesis, Preparation of Ultra-fine Powder of Barium-Yttrium-Copper-Oxide Compound System and Its Superconductivity" was published in the U.S. "Chinese Physics” Magazine (Vol. 9, No. 2, 1989). Upon graduation, Yuquan was assigned to a large petrochemical enterprise.  With her natural talent and personality, she soon became a lead activist in the company’s Art group. She often performed during the team tour and also sang solo and Teresa's songs at Zhongshan Concert Hall in Beijing. At one of those performances, a famous song writer believed that she had great potential, and talked to her about a possible singing career. However, due to the rigid personnel management system at that time, it was impossible for Yuquan to leave her working place. With much sorrow and regret, she had to put this opportunity aside, and her dream was never realized. 

In 1991, Yuquan came to the United States to study, and soon established her home in America. She began working for several companies as a database administrator, and continued that work from 1999 to 2001 at Harvard University. Beginning in 2001, she has created and currently manages several Internet shopping web sites.

During all of these times, Yuquan has never given up her love and commitment to singing, and singing has remained as an important part of her life. She has continued to improve her own musical talent and her level of singing competence.

In recent years, she has put this love of singing into action and has joined the "Yellow River Art Group" and the Cambridge Chinese School’s Karaoke Club, frequently participating in a number of amateur performances.

This past July 2006, Yuquan traveled to China as part of the 63-member Boston Eastern Heritage Chorus, a Boston-area amateur adult singing group, where they won two prestigious awards at the 4^th World Choir Games – competing against more than 400 other choruses from 80 nations.

Yuquan has a wide vocal range and her voice is rich in expressive force. Yuquan has created her own singing Web site (www.yuquanchen.com) and when you visit that site, you can appreciate her talent and know that her beautiful songs will bring you a whole new feeling of peace and happiness.

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