Li Yuchun.[Photo provided to China Daily]

"She broke the stereotype of female singers and has been coming out with original ideas and music," says Lu.

It has been more than a decade since Li, a then unknown music student, won the singing show Super Girl and became a phenomenon. The TV show attracted a nationwide audience of 400 million and many fans voted for the young singer, who wore her trademark short hair and sang with a neutral style and deep, soulful voice. The 2005 show made her an instant pop icon in the country, as well as one of its best-selling female pop stars. She also appeared on the cover of Time magazine's Asian edition, which described her as a "hero".

Recalling that year, when she was still a student of Sichuan Conservatory of Music, Li says that "everything happened so fast and I had to grow up quickly to fit in with the changing situation".

She even named her annual nationwide fan meetings, which started in 2009, Why Me?-a question she posed about her instant fame after winning the show.