Alan Dawa Dolma

Alan Dawa Dolma (born 25 July 1987), known mononymously as alan, is a Tibetan singer from China. She is a graduate of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Academy of Art in Beijing, majoring in vocal music and erhu, which she has played since childhood. Alan is known for a distinctive technique called the "Tibetan wail".

During her time in college, Alan released an album titled Shengsheng Zui Rulan (2005). In early 2006, she auditioned for the Japanese label Avex Trax. In late 2007, Alan moved to Tokyo and made her singles debut with "Ashita e no Sanka". She recorded theme songs to the film Red Cliff (2008), bringing her wider exposure. In 2009, her ninth single "Kuon no Kawa" and theme song to Part II of Red Cliff reached number three on the Oricon weekly charts, the highest placement by a singer from China. She has since been active in Japan and China.

Alan was born on 25 July 1987, in Kangding, Sichuan province, to Atu, a local government official, and Lantai, a singer. She is a native speaker of Khams Tibetan. Her extended family includes many relatives; her father had ten siblings and her mother had eight.

As Tibetan culture traditionally makes no use of family names, she was born as simply Dawa Dolma, bestowed upon her by a Buddhist monk and meaning "heavenly maiden of the moon" in Tibetan. She later adopted a family name for practical reasons, with "A-Lan" born from a portmanteau of her parents' given names, Atu and Lantai.

Alan was made to play the erhu at an early age as punishment for her tomboy behavior and to instill good behavior. She spent little time with her parents in Kangding and often lived with her grandparents instead. She and her mother later moved to the provincial capital, Chengdu, where her aunt lived. Alan completed her secondary education there under the Sichuan Conservatory of Music.

In 2003, she was accepted to the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Academy of Art in Beijing and double-majored in vocal music and erhu. She described the environment there as strict, which allayed her parents' concerns however. Playing the erhu, she performed traditional Chinese music with a group of girls at the 2006 gala performance near Cairo, which celebrated the 50th anniversary of the establishment of Chinese–Egyptian diplomatic ties.

During this time, Alan performed as a singer throughout China and discovered pop music from acts such as Faye Wong, Jacky Cheung and Andy Lau. In 2005 she released a Chinese album, Shengsheng Zui Rulan.

In October 2006, selected to represent mainland China together with Vision Wei (with whom she later collaborated for the single "Jiayou! Ni You Me!"), Alan won second place at the 9th Asia New Singer Competition.