Li Yuchun performs during her Growing Wild tour, which toured five cities around China. (Photo provided to China Daily)
Over the past decade, Li has released eight studio albums and more than 50 chart-topping singles. Her annual, sold-out Why Me concert has been supported by her loyal fans, known as Yu Mi, literally translated as "corns", a play on words for Yu's fans.
"I was unprepared when my career took off. The songs I performed were chosen by my record company. I was just a performer," Li says of her past 10 years.
It was not until 2009 that she started writing songs and realized what kind of music she liked.
"From then on, I was no longer a performer. I am a singer delivering messages through my music."
That's not to say Li is limited to music; she has also expanded her brand into movies and fashion. In recent years, she has starred in big-budget movies, such as Hong Kong director Tsui Hark's The Flying Swords of Dragon Gate, which also features Jet Li and Zhou Xun.
She sat in the front row at Gucci runway shows. Gucci's creative director Alessandro Michele and American fashion designer Alexander Wang designed costumes for her Growing Wild tour. French designer Jean Paul Gaultier created the wardrobe for her Crazy World tour in 2012.
In 2017, the singer-songwriter hopes to step further out of her comfort zone as a singer.
Like she raps in her new song, Xi Men Shao Nian, which was written by Li and is the last song of the new album, Li says that what matters to her is the original passion for music.
