She was pulled from appearing at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games last August because organisers said she was not pretty enough.
Yet Yang Peiyi - whose angelic voice was heard around the world in the 'Bird's Nest' National Stadium but who was replaced by another girl - showed not a hint of bitterness yesterday when she arrived in Hong Kong to sing at a shopping mall.
In an exclusive interview with the Sunday Morning Post, the seven-year-old said she was in the 'Bird's Nest' that night and heard her voice filling the stadium.
'I knew it was my voice but I didn't have any special feelings at that moment, although maybe I felt a little bit proud as I could be heard in such a big stadium,' she said.
'People have asked me again and again if I regretted being absent from the stage. I tell them I didn't.'
She was replaced by Lin Miaoke, nine, who lip-synched the song on the stage of the stadium on August 8. The main reasons given by the ceremony's music director were Peiyi's 'crooked teeth' and 'chubby face'.
Hongkongers will have a chance to not only hear but see the singer at the APM mall in Kwun Tong this afternoon. She has been invited to sing three songs, including Ode to the Motherland.