Composer Tan Dun (third from left) and Mei Shuaiyuan (right) discussing the musical The Fox Fairy on Mount Tianmen. Provided to China Daily

The show is subtitled in English and Korean.

Mei was born in Nandan, a mining area in northwestern Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. His childhood experiences in this mountainous area fueled his imagination, providing constant inspiration for his creations.

At the age of 12, he was enrolled by a Guangxi theatrical troupe as an actor, where he indulged his appetite for reading and became a self-trained writer.

"There was a small library next to my dormitory. And the wall between the two had a big hole in it. I'd always step through the hole to read at night," Mei recalls.

He started publishing novels and short stories at the age of 17. Later he received professional training at the National Academy of Chinese Theater Arts and Wuhan University. He says he found he had a natural talent for writing plays. "I wrote one play a year. Many won national awards," he says.

In the latter half of 1980s Mei ran a successful advertising company in his spare time and with this experience he was appointed president of the acting troupe in 1994.

Mei's life took a new turn in 1999. Though doing well as an administrator he wanted a breakthrough in his artistic career.

"I wanted something big and unprecedented," he says.