Poetic musician Li Jian

Pop queen Faye Wong made a graceful comeback at the 2010 CCTV Spring Festival Gala, belting out the poetic number "Legend". The song was composed by Li Jian, a musical talent who graduated from Tsinghua University, normally looked at as the home of future scientists of China.

In The List today, we look at Li Jian, to find out how he has achieved this success, rather than in the field of science.

Li Jian, composer of "Legend"

"Legend" was composed by Li Jian eight years ago, and features on his record "Evanescence of Life". Although the CD didn't have much impact a few years back, this time around the song soon topped various radio stations and net portal charts, thanks to Faye Wong's flowing rendition at the CCTV gala.

Li Jian was born in Harbin, Northeast China. His father, a Peking Opera artist, had expected his son to follow in his footsteps. But to his dismay, Li Jian soon reached the height of 1.8 meters as an adolescent, too tall for the opera performances.