stylistic:tone
Cultural impact

Teng emerged as one of the biggest singers in the world in her heyday of the 1970s and 1980s, with many considering her the most famous Asian popstar of her time. Teng's profound influence on Asian popular music and the Chinese cultural sphere throughout the latter half of the 20th century and thereafter led to her being recognized as the Far East 's first pop superstar. She is credited by some as an enlightener and a pioneer of Chinese vocal performance art and modern popular music, opening up the performance paths of modern Chinese pop singers and enlightening the artistic dreams of many later musicians and cultural people.

Numerous musical and non-musical figures have cited Teng as their idol and a major influence on their work. These include singer Faye Wong, Jay Chou, Jane Zhang, Kazukiyo Nishikiori of Japanese pop group Shonentai, Tetsuya Murakami of The Gospellers, Junko Akimoto, Rimi Natsukawa, "father" of Chinese rock Cui Jian, Romanian singer Cristina Boboacă, fashion designer Vivienne Tam, Nobel Prize laureate and writer Liu Xiaobo, poet and writer Xu Pei, manga artist Kenshi Hirokane, filmmaker Jia Zhangke, as well as painter and sculptor Jian Guo, among others.