With the international spotlight currently focused on the Beijing Olympics, China has more to worry about than musical credibility.

A 10,000-strong army of civilians have spent weeks trying to beat back a particularly aggressive kind of algae which arrived uninvited in the sailing venue; some teams fear they will be hampered by pollution and the protests concerning the country's relationship with Tibet are likely to get more intense.

However, while the Games's losers will have little choice but to drown their sorrows in the nearest karaoke bar to a soundtrack of ear-piercing electro-pop, Sa Dingding could yet become China's first bone fide musical export.

The 24-year-old singer/songwriter's love for electronica is unmistakably Eastern, but, inspired by traditional folk music and lyrics written sometimes in Sanskrit, sometimes in Mandarin and sometimes in a language she's invented herself, hers is a very different sound.

"I'm interested in both the past and present of my country," she says ahead of a performance at the Harrogate International Festival next week. "All sorts of people listen to my music. The young people tend to like the sound and the older ones like the fact it embraces their culture.

"China is developing so quickly. Even in my lifetime I've seen it change beyond recognition. That's great in many ways, but in the rush towards modernisation there is a danger our ancient culture gets trampled on."

At home, Dingding is a fully fledged pin-up, but wearing the kind of theatrical dresses Björk would sell her grandmother for, she's unlikely to be gracing the pages of Beijing's version of
a lads' mag.

"I am inspired by all art forms," she says. "People say I dress exotically, but it's what I feel comfortable in, and I think it suits my music. Singing is not just about standing on stage, it has to be about a performance. I want the audience to feel they are watching a spectacle."

Dingding is certainly making her voice heard. She made her first visit to England earlier this year to pick up a Radio 3 world music award and, with an appearance at Womad planned for this weekend as well as a concert at the Royal Albert Hall next week, her profile on the Western music circuit looks set to rise.

"There is a big difference between Western and Eastern music," she says. "Eastern music is more female, it's more about emotion and feeling. The music which comes out of the West tends to be more masculine, more straightforward, it doesn't have as many layers.

"I enjoy listening to all kinds of music. I like many Chinese musicians, but I also like listening to the Chemical Brothers, Linkin Park and Paul Oakenfold."

With a Chinese father and a Mongolian mother, Dingding spent childhood summers travelling across Mongolia with her grandmother and it was during those holidays where she says musical inspiration first struck.

"We were living in the grasslands. I heard people singing every day and it taught me that music means freedom. I was probably only 10 years old when I decided I wanted to be a musician, but when I first started out I was singing songs written by other people.

"I wanted to explore my imagination and that's when I started with electronica and more traditional instruments."

Experimentation has become a key element of her work. One song was inspired by a visit to the remote Lagu community of southern China and, unable to communicate in their own language, she decided to make up her own.

"There are many people who don't get noticed and I hope that through my music I can introduce them to the world," she says. "It was the same when I was writing a song in memory of my grandmother. I searched deep in my memory for the language she used to talk to me while I was a baby. The song made people cry, it was so emotional. I think people know how to sing before they know how to speak."

Dingding has sold two million copies of her album Alive in Asia and if she can break Western Europe she would be the first Chinese artist to do so. Despite the high expectations, she seems to be adept at taking things in her stride.

"Buddhism is an important part of the inspiration for me to create music," she says. "It can enlighten my soul and help me find a a good way to express my deep spirit."

Sa Dingding, Royal Hall, Harrogate, Aug 1. 0845 130 8840, www.harrogate-festival.org.uk