From Waitress To Superstar

9 September 2010, 15:38 | Updated: 9 September 2010, 16:55

A Cambridge woman, who washed dishes at her parents' takeaway restaurant, has now become a singing sensation in China, selling 100 MILLION records.

Ayi Jihu, who's 25, gave up her £4 an hour job at the Ugly Duckling restaurant to pursue her dream of becoming a singer.  She's already being dubbed the 'Chinese Madonna.'

Ayi moved to the UK from China with her family when she was 13, and says she can't walk through her home village in Sichuan without being mobbed by excited fans.

The singer has become known for her fairly provocative performances and is releasing a single here in the UK on September 27th.

Yesterday, Ayi paid her parents a surprise visit, giving them a gold disc to mark 100 million download singles in China.

The performer's been telling Heart her new life is a world apart from growing up in her village in China, and later helping her parents at their resturant.  She said: ''I used to sing and dance for the customers. It's all I ever wanted to do and got me out of the kitchen for a short while.

''This is where it all started. Now I just want to eat the food not do the washing up.

''I'm pretty big in China but not much in the west. Not a lot of Chinese performers are like me; I'm sexy, provocative and raunchy."