One of China's most famous songs "Tian Mi Mi" (Sweet Honey) has crossed the Atlantic Ocean and is now performed by Cuba's best acapella vocal group, a sign of its popularity and worldwide recognition as well as cultural ties that unite the Caribbean island with Beijing.
Vocal Sampling, Cuba's leading acapella group, has recorded the song as part of its next album and is currently performing it all over the world, particularly in festivals and concerts in Asia.
"Including this song in our repertoire was very interesting from an artistic and musical point of view because we're exploring Chinese sounds and instruments with our voices," Rene Baños, director and founder of Vocal Sampling, told Xinhua.
The singer said "Tian Mi Mi" is part of a very mixed album set to come out next fall where songs from all over the world are interpreted by the vocal group, without losing the Cuban sonority.
"The metaphors and poetic language of the Chinese song are beautiful and we were able to mix it with our vocal style," he added.
With lyrics written by famous composer Zhuang Nu, the song was performed by legendary singer Teresa Teng.
In China, Teresa Teng was among the earliest singers people got to know after the reform and opening-up. Her sweet and soft voice, fancy dresses and curly hair seemed novel to those who were used to seeing green and black coats and plaits.
In her heyday in the 1970s and 1980s, Teng was one of Asia's biggest singers. She was well-known for her folk songs and romantic ballads, which include The Moon Represents My Heart, I Only Care About You, and Tian Mi Mi.
Now this Cuban acapella ensemble looks to add on to the song's fame with its distinctive interpretation of the piece.
"We've sung it already at the World Music festival in Shanghai as well as other places in Asia and the audience has received it very well and impressed on how a Cuban vocal group can perform a song that is so distant from our culture," said Baños.
For Reinaldo Sanler, also founder of Vocal Sampling and interpreter of the Chinese song, it was a great challenge to learn the lyrics in a language that isn't similar to Spanish.
"We had to research about the song to know what the text said, the meaning of each verse and the feelings its original author wanted to express," said Sanler to Xinhua.
The Cuban singer said the lyrics of "Tian Mi Mi" are hard to pronounce but it's very pleasant for him to perform it time after time.
"I needed help to pronounce the lyrics from Chinese native speakers that live in Cuba and after hours of preparation and rehearsals I can now sing it," he said.
Meanwhile, Hector Crespo, member of Vocal Sampling, said the hardest thing regarding "Tian Mi Mi" was imitating with their voices typical Chinese instruments present in the melody of the song.
"The harmony, sharp tones and vibratos of traditional Chinese instruments were very hard to bring together mainly because we do everything with our voices," he said.
Crespo added that Cuban instruments are very different in tone and sharpness and learning new sounds took time and great effort.
"The result has been great because our main goal was to perform the song as similar to the original version as possible and I think we've accomplished it," he said.
His feeling was shared by Pedro Bernard, Luis Alzaga and Oscar Porro other members of the Cuban acapella group.
Vocal Sampling plans to tour various cities of China next year to awe the public with their true Cuban rhythm, charisma and talent.
