A descendant of China’s last imperial family, Aixinjueluo Qidi is a singer and a judge on CCTV’s Young Singers Contest – the Chinese equivalent of American Idol. Married to a British hotelier, she splits her time between performing in China and travelling with her family. Reggie Ho met her in Dalian, where her husband currently works, and talked about how she has come to where she is, and where she wants to go next.
TELL ME ABOUT YOUR BACKGROUND
My family is related to the first emperor of the Qing Dynasty, who had 15 sons. My family came from son number 14, Duo Duo. I am the 13th generation. My mom’s grandfather was the best friend of Guangxu Emperor (1875–1908) and a premier.
WHAT WAS IT LIKE GROWING UP WITH ROYAL BLOOD?
When I was young everything was hidden, all because of the Cultural Revolution. Our family had been sent into the countryside, to be re-educated as “real people”. So I grew up in the mud. In 1978, they sent us back to Beijing, but we still could not talk about our royal background, until 10 years later in the 1980s, when China opened to the West. I then started to learn where I came from. In the late ‘80s, when I was about 20, my mom decided to change our name back to Aixinjueluo. Before, we had changed it to “Jin”, which translates to “gold”, because that’s what “Aixinjueluo” means in Manchurian.
HOW DID THOSE DAYS INFLUENCE YOU?
When I was a kid, I used to play with rocks that I kept in my pocket. I had one doll that was washed, sewn and with patches on it. My mom and I were in the countryside with nothing to do, and as she loved to sing, she taught me how to sing. When we moved back to Beijing, she sent me to a radio choir, and I sang there for seven years. I was the winner in professional singing in the 1994 Young Singers Contest.
HOW OFTEN DO YOU TRAVEL?
I probably spend half the time home and the other half travelling, and the travels are sometimes quite long. One summer I promised to take my kids to London, but then I had to fly back by myself to Beijing, then on to Harbin, and drove five hours to a town named Wudalianchi, near the border with Russia. The government there wanted to develop the town into a bigger city and they had built a big hotel, so they invited famous Beijing artistes to perform.
WHAT DO YOU ALWAYS BRING WITH YOU WHEN TRAVELLING?
I always have earplugs because I can’t be guaranteed whether the hotel is quiet or not. Sometimes it can be by the road, or it might be under renovation, and there can be construction in the morning in little towns that are still building. I also bring my hairdryer – some hotels have ones on the bathroom wall, but they don’t really work.
WHAT ARE YOUR AIR TRAVEL PET PEEVES?
I hate those thin, woolly blankets that are not comfortable.
WHAT ARE YOUR FAVOURITE DESTINATIONS?
Australia and New Zealand – we’d drive a caravan, and then we’d stop and put up a barbecue. We love Queensland. Once we drove from Melbourne along the Great Ocean Road to Adelaide; it was beautiful. We have been to both islands in New Zealand and driven all around.
ANY NEW DESTINATIONS YOU’D LIKE TO VISIT?
I want to go to Egypt to see the pyramids. And I want to go to India – because when acting on stage in China I have been given Indian roles and sung Indian songs because they think I look Indian.
