He was called the "prince of love songs" in China in the 1990s and grew immensely popular. Chinese audiences best remember Julio Iglesias for singing "La Paloma" with Chinese singer Wei Wei at the closing ceremony of the first East Asian Games in 1993. Twenty years later, Iglesias, the 69-year-old Spanish singer and songwriter, returns to China for a three-city concert tour, which started with Shanghai last Sunday and comes to the Beijing Exhibition Center Theater this Sunday, April 21.

He's been around town a fair amount lately, receiving an award April 1 for the First and Most Popular International Artist of All Time in China, given by Sony Music China and presented by Chinese pianist Lang Lang. But this tour marks Iglesias' first performances in China in two decades.

Given the long absence, Iglesias will make sure to belt out all the hits, including "Manuela," "Moments," "Caruso" and, of course, "La Paloma," according to Zhang Zhen, Beijing marketing director of Juooo.com, which is hosting the tour. Iglesias' latest album, Julio Iglesias "1" (2011), features him recreating the favorites that made him the best-selling foreign artist in China, as declared by the Ministry of Culture in 1995.

"To make sure the performance is all original, Iglesias brought his own team, including band and accompanying dancers, to bring the most pure Latin music to China," Zhang said.

Though the concert is still five days out, the buzz around the show is building.

Zheng Wanzhen, a technician who resides in Beijing, said her memory of Iglesias started when she was young, like many people born in the late 1980s.

"I started listening to Western music when I was young. My elementary music textbook included 101 English songs," she said. "I always paid attention to international music stations and famous Western singers, and Julio is one of them."

As a ticket-holding fan, she finds Iglesias' songs and voice soothing.

Qin Chuan, a 26-year-old fan of Western music who works at a car sales company, feels the same way about Iglesias.

"The main characteristic of Iglesias is he has a good voice and sings with deep, loving emotions. No wonder he is called the prince of love songs. I'm a fan of both the father and the son," he said, referring to Iglesias' son Enrique, also an international singing sensation.

Qin, whose favorite song is "La Paloma," said another reason he likes Iglesias is he can sing in many languages - English, German, Italian and French. Even though Qin can't understand all the languages, it still adds a certain charm. 

Despite the loyal fan base and Iglesias' 300 million albums sold worldwide, Beijing-based independent music critic Guo Zhikai, 40, said Iglesias' influence shows signs of waning.

"The most vivid memory people have of him is from 20 years ago. But in the present, his style of songs isn't too recognizable in China," he said. "With the Internet, everyone has a broader music selection, not like the old days."

Guo said Chinese audiences these days don't care as much about love songs, especially ones from a singer that hasn't been in China for 20 years.

"It's easy for the audience to forget you," he said.

However, Guo thinks it's still a meaningful thing to treat the concert as a chance of getting to know Latin music and getting a feel for the old days.

"I'm going there to reminisce," Zheng said. "I want to listen to old songs and see if he can sing just like the old times."