Edith Piaf was the "Little Sparrow", Aretha Franklin is the "Queen of Soul" and, in China, Jane Z has been dubbed the "Dolphin Princess"--much to the chagrin of the 24-year-old.

"I really don't like people calling me that, because first of all, it's very strange, you know. It's weird, and everybody just thinks, 'Oh, OK, she's a singer and she can sing like a dolphin,'" Jane told The Daily Yomiuri on a recent visit to Tokyo.

The unusual nickname was given to her when she finished third in Super Girl, a female singing contest held on Chinese television in 2005, in which she reached some extraordinary vocal heights.

 
"In the competition I was singing the song Lovin' You and they called the high voice the 'Dolphin Voice.' But before that, I never knew of anyone describing a voice like that. But after that, everybody called me 'Dolphin Princess,'" Jane explained.

It seems that her misgivings over the nickname have fallen on deaf ears in some areas of China. "When I'm going to do some live shows the emcee will say, 'OK, next is 'Dolphin Princess--Jane Z.' I really don't like this!" she protested.

Perhaps "China's Mariah Carey" would be more to Jane Z's liking?

"I think if (it had not been for) Mariah Carey, I wouldn't be a singer right now. Before...I just knew I liked to sing, but I didn't know how to sing well. When I heard her songs, it made me think about how to sing well," she said.

Not surprisingly for someone whose favourite karaoke tune is Carey's 1993 worldwide hit, Hero, there are echoes of Jane's heroine on her latest album, Jane@Music. However, it is not one of the Mariah-like ballads on her album she calls her favourite--for her, the standout song is Can't Be Love, one of the more uptempo numbers.

"Before, I was singing a lot of sad songs, so people think I'm a sad person. I really wanted them to know the real me: I like rock music. In this song I sing with a new producer, Keith, and he's a rocker...so on this album the fast songs are done in a rock style. I like the guitar parts, I really like that," she said.

The song is certainly catchy, with hit potential. But whether it is going to catapult her into the international music scene is another matter.

Born in the Sichuan region of China as Zhang Liangying, Jane started singing in her youth.

"When I was young I didn't sing very well, no pitch, no timing. I just liked to sing--nobody told me I sang well and nobody told me, 'I don't think so,' but I sang every single day, whatever I was doing I was singing," she recalled.

"In the very beginning I learned an English song from an animated movie," she said, before launching into a rendition of Beauty and the Beast.

Having gained nationwide exposure on Super Girl, Jane released her debut album, The One, on Oct 11, 2006, her 22nd birthday. Less than 10 months later, Jane's follow-up album, Update, was released, and, by last summer, she had become established as one of mainland China's top pop stars.

Jane's English ability is very impressive, a skill she modestly puts down to her love of English music.

"For me, it was because I love a lot of English songs, a lot of singers who sing in English, like Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Christina Aguilera, Ne-Yo and Alicia Keys. They all speak and sing in English and I really wanted to know why the songs were so beautiful, I wanted to know what they were singing about, I wanted to know the details, so I really needed to learn this language," she said.

And Japanese?

"I cannot speak Japanese. I can only say, 'arigato gozaimasu,'" she answered with a laugh.

At least it is a start, especially when she tells me where she would like to live if she ever left China.

"If I must move to another country, I think Japan is a very good place for me. I come from Sichuan, so the United States, for me, is a little bit boring because, you know, every day at maybe 9 o'clock or 10 o'clock, there's nobody on the street in the United States, because everybody just goes home too early, I think," she admitted.

Clearly, Jane's only exposure to life across the Pacific--a concert with Japanese singer Kitaro in Pasadena, California--did not leave the best impression.

"Every time they (Americans) go to a party, it's just like, 'Wow, it's a long time since we had a party. In China, my friends and my managers and family, we're always together, always staying out late (laughs)," she explained.

As for Europe, Jane is keen to visit the home of some of her favourite artists.

"I really want to (visit Europe). I love a lot of bands from Britain, like Coldplay, Amy Winehouse and Duffy and the Beatles. There are a lot of great bands and singers," she said enthusiastically.

Fittingly, Jane recently covered a song by Duffy, a fellow TV talent show contestant who was runner-up on the Welsh TV show, Wawffactor, six years ago.

"At my last concert I sung one of Duffy's songs--Warwick Avenue," she said.

Unlike the Welsh singer, Jane doesn't write her own material, though she is taking steps to change this.

"I wrote a song, but I think it's not so good, it's like for cartoons," she said, before adding, "(I play) a little piano and I'm learning the guitar."

Last year, Jane was appointed as the Youth Ambassador for China and visited Japan with Chinese President Hu Jintao. During the visit, she performed a song at the private residence of then prime minister Yasuo Fukuda. She is aware of the responsibility attached to her role as a cultural ambassador.

"I think they chose me as Chinese youth ambassador (after looking at) my lifestyle, customs and behaviour. What I can do, I think, is maintain my proper and good lifestyle and customs and behave well and properly in front of people," she said.

Jane is proud of her roots in Chengdu, a fact reflected in the name she chose for the international market.

"If you say my name in Sichuan pronunciation it's like 'Ja-in,' it's quite close to Jane," she said.

But the main reason for calling herself Jane comes from a very different and very surprising source. "Jane is from a book I loved--Jane Eyre. I really like the heroine in the book," she said.

Charlotte Bronte's classic Gothic novel tells of the rise of Jane Eyre, a poor orphan girl in England in 19th-century England. More than 150 years since its publication, another Jane from a humble background on the other side of the world will be hoping that, like that of her literary role model, her story will have a happy ending.