Promotional material for Gong Linna's Five Elements of Love concert Photo: Courtesy of Zheng Honglin

Gong Linna - the female fusion singer who gained both fame and criticism with "Tante," a song made up of nonsense syllables sung in the style of Peking Opera - will hold concerts at Beijing's Tianqiao Performing Arts Center from May 20 to 22.

Titled Five Elements of Love, Gong's concert will be divided into five parts according to the traditional Chinese concept of the five elements - metal, wood, water, fire and earth.

At a press conference for her concert Tuesday, Gong explained that her song "Tante" will be performed during the fire section of the concert, while Gong's version of the folk song "Xiaohe Tangshui" (Flowing Brook) will be part of the water section.

"There will also be new works in the earth section," Gong said.

Although Gong first made a name for herself during a China Central Television (CCTV) singing competition in 2000, her popularity among the mass audience skyrocketed in 2010 with "Tante." However, due to the song's lack of meaningful lyrics and Gong's exaggerated facial expressions during her performances left many wondering if Gong was merely trying to shock her way to fame.

In order to create a new type of music that could represent China, Gong and her German husband, musician Robert Zollitsch, have spent years delving into Chinese operas and folk songs.

Zollitsch told the Global Times that when he came to China about 20 years ago, he had wondered why such a big country lacked a representative sound on the world stage.

"China had a voice in the economy but not one culturally," Zollitsch said in Chinese. "What was contemporary Chinese culture? Westerners had no idea at all."

With this curiosity, Zollitsch started to search for "the beauty of Chinese music."

"Now I want to pass that down so more people can learn where the beauty of China lies," he added.