BEIJING: When Pets Tseng decided to join Ride the Wind 2026, she probably did not expect the experience to lead her here.
The Taiwan singer-actress had already spent nearly two decades in the entertainment industry. But the hit reality show, which brought together 33 female celebrities from different fields and generations, pushed her into unfamiliar territory — singing and dancing, week after week, on a demanding competition stage.
On June 27, Tseng emerged as the season's overall champion.
She did not, however, take a break after the victory.
Instead, she went straight back to work, moving from the competition stage into preparations for her next major chapter: a world tour.
"I never thought I would have this kind of experience in my life," Tseng said at a news conference in Beijing on Sept 22, where she announced her new world tour, Gift.
Her experience of Ride the Wind 2026, she said, had been a breakthrough in itself. Singing and dancing on the show pushed her beyond what she had previously imagined for herself, while the months of rehearsals, performances and companionship with her fellow contestants gave her a renewed sense of what was possible.
Looking back after the finale, Tseng said she was grateful to the version of herself who had been brave enough to take the first step. The journey, she said, had expanded her "body, mind and spirit" and given her more courage.
Now, barely three months after the competition ended, she is preparing to take that newfound momentum onto an even bigger stage.
The Gift world tour takes its name from Tseng's reflection on nearly 20 years in music. The laughter and tears, setbacks and applause, encounters and companionship she has experienced along the way have all become gifts from life.
The tour, in turn, is her way of giving something back.
"The love and companionship my fans have given me over the years are also gifts to me," Tseng said, describing the concert as a two-way exchange between performer and audience.
Tseng has been deeply involved in the tour's preparation, from the overall concept and promotional photography to song selection and stage design. She initially drew up a list of more than 60 possible songs before repeatedly whittling it down.
The stage itself revolves around two concepts: infinity and the circle.
A physical gift may have a shape and form, Tseng explains, but the love and memories it carries are infinite. The circle represents reunion — the idea of her and her fans crossing distances and eventually meeting again.
The tour is scheduled to travel to more than a dozen cities, including Changsha, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Shenzhen, and Beijing, as well as destinations overseas, including Singapore and Malaysia.
Her close friend Xie Nan, whom she met through Ride the Wind 2026, hosted the launch event, adding another link between the reality show that reshaped Tseng's year and the tour that now follows it.
After nearly two decades of singing, acting and growing in the public eye, Tseng says she is still discovering new versions of herself.
And now, instead of taking time off after her unexpected championship, she is setting out once again. - China Daily/ANN
