The Queen Returns

“Queen of Mandopop” Faye Wong is back, with a 10-date tour covering Beijing and Shanghai starting in October.

The press July 19 press conference in Beijing, however, was little more than a formality, as tickets went on sale 10 days earlier. So far, the tour has already made $2.79 million.

The number, in fact, was brought up by a reporter, and Wong seemed surprised.

“Is that figure really accurate?” she asked in her typically unexpressive way. Wong is infamously dry and often described as “icy.” She kept the assembled reporters waiting three hours and then remained on stage for only three minutes.

The singer, who is now 40, retired five years ago, saying she wanted to concentrate her efforts on her charity, which was set up to help children with cleft lips and palates.

One of her daughters was born with a similar condition.

Originally from Beijing, Wong started out with the stage name Shirley, singing sweet Cantonese songs but eventually switched to Mandarin in 1994.

She also sings in English and sometimes in Japanese. Her last album, To Love, was released in 2003 and so far there are no plans for a follow-up.