Photo provided to China Daily

Since that triumph, he has had contracts with well-known record companies and a busy schedule of world tours.

All the signs pointed to a wonderful career in front of him. However, the path was to prove not so smooth. With his reserved personality, and without an experienced managing team behind him, Li remained in the shadow of Lang Lang, the other Chinese keyboard genius born in the same year.

Li left the limelight temporarily to continue his studies at the Hochschule fur Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover in Germany from 2002 to 2005.

But his unique artistic charm still attracts millions of fans. Some dedicated female fans follow every concert of his world tour and even check his schedule so as to be on the same flight.

His career is on the rise again. Last year, he signed a new contract with Deutsche Grammophon and released Beethoven sonatas. Before his China tour, he completed a European tour where he enjoyed warm applause from appreciative audiences.

He also tries new ways to communicate with his audience. But because of his Chopin award, his low profile and reserved personality, for a while Li had been considered the Chopin-like piano poet, and defender of serious classical music. So some find it hard to believe that he played the piano with pop stars like Jay Chou and Lee-hom Wang, or performed as a helper in a magic show.

Li admits that he was a bit upset at the beginning but gradually got used to it and no longer cares about it.

"Just let it be. It's social-media time and entertainment dominates society," he says. "I could not live without it. As a young pianist, I want to promote classical music. It's not wrong to play with pop stars.

"I'm happy to see much more young audiences at the classical concerts in China than those in the West. I care about my impact on young fans and hope to bring more people to classical music."

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Getting to know Li Yundi

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