Xie Tiantian (left), initiator of Voice Bear Studio, performs with another voice actor, nicknamed Fengxiu, during an animation exposition event held in Wuhan in May. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Online audio dramas are once again gaining increasing popularity among younger generations of Chinese.

Li is obviously one of them. She used to love reading online novels, but soon noticed many of her favorite novels had been adapted into audio dramas. Hearing them opened a new world.

She began to follow the performers whose voices and ways of acting were as distinct as anything seen on stage or film. Li was not alone. Many other listeners discovered the power of voice. They even found listening was a better way than reading to enjoy stories.

"I can listen to a novel-adapted audio drama many times, but don't want to read a novel for a second time," says Ding Zimin, 24, an avid listener who works in Shanghai.

"Listening makes it easier for you to imagine the scenes and immerse yourself in the stories.

"Some sentences read in a book may impress you, but if you hear them being said in an audio play, you feel electrified."