Urna Chahar-Tugchi, known by her stage name Urna, has been singing for as long as she can remember. Long before she ever stepped onto a stage or recorded an album, her voice echoed across the grasslands of Ordos in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region — unaccompanied, spontaneous, and free.

As a child, she spent countless hours alone on horseback, tending to sheep or cattle. In that vast, open landscape, her only companions were the sky, the wind, and her own voice. She would sing — sometimes traditional Mongolian melodies, but often her own compositions, sounds that seemed to come from deep within her, or perhaps from beyond.

Her mother would ask, "What are you singing?"