1. 朋友(Peng You, meaning ‘Friend’)
This song was originally sung by a Korean singer-Ahn Jae-Wook. It’s easy to sing and the message is appealing to the audience. Middle-aged men often choose this song as their favorite. It’s a little bit old and maybe too common.
→ Website to this song and lyrics
2. 老鼠爱大米(Lao Shu Ai Da Mi, meaning ‘Mouse likes Rice’)
It was a mega-hit song. It’s easy to sing and the words are easy to pronounce.
→ Website to this song and lyrics
3. 童话(Tong Hua, meaning ‘Children’s Story’)
It’s a one of Guang Liang(光良)’s most popular songs. It is more sentimental compared to other recommendations. The song is about feeling for a woman loves from childhood. This lovely lyric is emotional and touches the heart that many women like.
→ Website to this song and lyrics
4. 后来(Hou Lai, meaning ‘Later’)
It is a very famous song by Liu ruo-ying(刘若英). I like her delicate songs, but it can be difficult for men to sing her songs.
→ Website to this song and lyrics
5. 今天我要嫁给你(Jin Tian Wo Yao Jia Gei Ni, meaning ‘Today I’ll Marry You’)
This is a lovely duet sung in a playful mood. Lyric is sweet and it is about a young couple’s hope for their newlywed life. It’s not appropriate for middle-aged people who are already married. I think the song is for young people. For your information, there is another song with a similar title, Zhou hua-jian(周华建)’s 明天我要嫁给你(meaning ‘Tomorrow, I’ll Marry You’). Don’t’ be confused with that song. The lyrics and melody are totally different.
→ Website to this song and lyrics
6. 月亮代表我的心(Yue Liang Dai Biao Wo De Xin, meaning ‘Moon Represents My Heart’)
This song is the oldest song from my list of recommendations. It has various revival versions, but I like the original version. This song was used as the OST in the famous Hong Kong movie, ‘Almost a Love Story’. It goes with the saying that ‘there is no age for a good song’. The song is OK for oldies.
→ Website to this song and lyrics
7. 十年(Shi Nian, meaning ‘Ten years’)
In retrospect, this song is the first song that I learned in China. Despite the great melody and lyrics, it became a hit more than ten years after the release. Keep in mind that the air of the song is placid and even solemn. It might not be appropriated in a cheerful mood.
→ Website to this song and lyrics
8. 情非得以(Qing Fei De Yi, meaning ‘Inevitable Love’)
This song became famous in Taiwan after it was used as the theme song of a very famous TV drama, ‘Meteor Garden(Liu Xing Hua Yuan)’. It is has a cheerful and upbeat tempo.
→ Website to this song and lyrics
The fact is, it is difficult to choose songs among a lot of good songs. I’ve picked out the steadily-loved songs. But if you want a list of more trendy songs, I recommend you search through the music section in Baidu or Yahoo China. Especially, I like Wang Li-hong, I think there are more trendy and gentle songs such as ‘Kiss Goodbye’ and ‘爱的就是你(Ai De Jiu Shi Ni, meaning ‘All I love is You’). And if you are interested in Chinese songs, ‘歌曲 TOP 500’ of Baidu (http://list.mp3.baidu.com/top/top500.html) is also a great website to check out.