Her cool demeanour and demureness can easily be interpreted as sheer arrogance. When asked whether she wanted some hot tea before the interview began, Zhu Zheqin, better known as Dadawa, nudged her empty cup aside for a refill but remained frostily silent and aloof.
Meet the controversial mainland singer, who had uttered not a sound to the Hong Kong media until she perfunctorily explained the purpose of her visit here - to promote her latest album, Voices from the Sky.
It was difficult, even after she had spoken, to tell whether Dadawa was enthusiastic about her visit or not. She said: 'Promotion is part of my work. I have a new album and with it is the promotion of my music, thoughts and feelings.' And what are they exactly? 'This album is a new attempt on concepts inspired by Tibet. It has a different tone from my last album. The music is more colourful, lucid and contains more human feelings.' But, like her last (and debut) album Sister Drum, co-written by composer He Xuntian, Voices from the Sky features her divine vocals and Tibetan-style chanting.
Since most of her songs in Sister Drum have few or no lyrics, Dadawa has been able to become one of the few mainland singers to break into the international market.
Though Dadawa, who is in her 20s, insists her music has been inspired by Tibet the place and not its music, critics in the West point out that the pulsating drumbeats prominent in her debut album are typical of that land.
They also note her compositions feature monks reciting Buddhist sutras and the sounds of Tibetan long pipes and trumpets.