By Yuan Haiyin
Tang Can, the Chinese folk singer who vanished from public life in 2011 amid allegations tying her to high-level corruption in the People’s Liberation Army, has returned to the stage. In January 2026, the 50-year-old performer appeared at the Asian Television Network’s ninth Tian Nan Di Bei Grand Spring Festival Gala in Beijing, her first performance on a major televised program in over a decade.
Why Tang Can’s 2026 gala comeback is drawing attention across Chinese social media
After more than a decade largely absent from public view, former folk music star Tang Can has returned to the stage. In the lead-up to the 2026 Lunar New Year, the 50-year-old singer was seen in Beijing recording the Asian Television Network’s ninth Tian Nan Di Bei Grand Spring Festival Gala, a televised variety program that airs outside the orbit of China Central Television (CCTV). Clips from the recording quickly circulated online, pushing her name to the top of trending searches on Chinese social media.
Videos from behind the scenes show Tang performing three songs, including her well-known hit Celebrating the Opening, and changing into four different stage outfits. Yet the performance itself attracted less commentary than the manner of her arrival.
According to the footage, Tang came alone, without an assistant or dedicated vehicle. She took a ride-hailing car to the venue and carried her own costumes as she entered. The understated scene stood in sharp contrast to the glamorous image she once projected at the height of her fame, prompting netizens to describe her as “remarkably down-to-earth.”
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How Tang Can rose from Hubei province to become a ‘flower of the military’
Tang Can was born in 1975 in Lichuan, a city in Hubei Province in central China, with ancestral roots in Zhuzhou, Hunan. A graduate of the Wuhan Conservatory of Music, she first gained national attention in 1996 at the CCTV Young Singers Television Grand Prix, a state-run singing competition that has served as a launchpad for many of China’s most prominent vocalists.
Her breakthrough came in 1999 with Bless the Motherland, a patriotic folk song that helped propel her to the forefront of China’s “new folk song” movement, a genre blending traditional Chinese folk melodies with contemporary pop production. She went on to appear multiple times on CCTV’s Spring Festival Gala, the Chinese Communist Party’s flagship annual broadcast, which regularly draws over 700 million viewers. Tang became a familiar face to audiences across the country.
In 2010, Tang was specially recruited into the Beijing Military Region’s War Comrades Song and Dance Troupe, a performing arts unit of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). She received a civilian rank equivalent to that of a senior military officer. She also served as a torchbearer during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Frequently performing in military uniform, she cultivated a commanding stage presence and was widely referred to by fans as “the flower of the military.”
Tang Can’s 2011 disappearance and alleged links to CCP military corruption
At the end of 2011, Tang abruptly disappeared from public life.
Soon after, rumors began circulating that she had been implicated in high-level corruption cases and linked, through alleged romantic relationships, to senior military and political figures who later fell from power during Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s sweeping anti-corruption campaign. Given her visibility, rapid rise within the PLA’s cultural system, and striking appearance, online labels such as “military siren” spread quickly, later mutating into more derogatory characterizations.
For years, Tang’s whereabouts were unknown. Sporadic reports suggested she may have served a prison sentence and been released early around 2018, though none of these claims were ever officially confirmed by any Chinese government or military authority.
Tang Can’s brief 2020 reappearance during the COVID-19 pandemic
Tang resurfaced briefly in February 2020, at the height of China’s COVID-19 outbreak, nearly nine years after her disappearance. She opened an account on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, and posted a livestream showing herself practicing yoga at home, encouraging viewers to stay active during lockdowns.
In the video, she appeared noticeably thinner and more fatigued, with a receding hairline and a subdued demeanor that contrasted sharply with her former onstage image. She remarked that people tend to gain weight during holidays and that exercising was especially important under the circumstances.
The livestream quickly drew attention. Some viewers interpreted it as a tentative test of public reaction ahead of a potential comeback, while others speculated about its timing amid the pandemic. Shortly afterward, the account was deleted and the video removed.
That appearance was widely regarded as Tang’s first public reemergence after years of silence and was reported by multiple overseas media outlets covering Chinese politics. In retrospect, it has been seen as an early step in a gradual return. From 2023 onward, she began appearing more frequently at public events, including calligraphy exhibitions and small-scale commercial performances in county-level venues.
Why Tang Can’s Spring Festival return bypassed CCTV and what it signals about CCP factional politics
By 2026, Tang’s return to a Spring Festival-style program came through alternative platforms such as Asian Television, and pointedly did not come through CCTV’s flagship gala, which remains tightly controlled by Chinese Communist Party propaganda authorities.
Overseas commentator Jiang Feng wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, that Tang had once been viewed as a rival to Peng Liyuan, the wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping and herself a celebrated PLA folk singer, in earlier years. He suggested that her reappearance in a gala-style program could point to subtle shifts within military and cultural circles in China. Jiang described the move as someone deliberately reviving an “old ticket” to make a public statement, adding that it appeared intended to “publicly embarrass” others.
His remarks fueled further discussion on X. One user responded: “Who brought her back out? That’s bold.”
The question of who authorized or facilitated Tang’s return, and what message it is meant to send, if any, remains unanswered. In China’s tightly managed entertainment and military cultural system, a singer’s return to the stage after a corruption-linked exile is rarely an accident. Tang Can’s reappearance at the 2026 Spring Festival gala, however modest the venue, has reopened old questions about power, patronage, and factional maneuvering inside the Chinese Communist Party.
Editor’s Note: This article is based on media reports, publicly shared online videos, social media commentary, and statements by overseas commentators. Allegations involving corruption or personal relationships with senior officials have not been independently verified and are presented as claims or suspicions raised by external sources.
