Li Yundi, born in Chongqing in December 1982, showed his inborn musical talent in his early days. At the age of five, he got the first prize of the Children's Accordion Competition. When he was seven, his interest turned to piano and later became a student of Professor Dan Zhaoyi, a famous pianist. With his first prize won in Chongqing Piano Competition in 1993, he was accepted by the middle school attached to the Sichuan Music College. In 1995, Li, a 12-year-old boy, took part in the Stravensky International Piano Competition, the first one of such big contests, and won the third prize of Group B, which had 70 contestants. From then on, Li have received countless prizes with his elegant piano performance, such as the third prize of Piano Competition on Chinese Music Works held in Hong Kong in 1997, and the third prize of International Piano Competition in South Missouri, held in the US in 1998, and so on.

In October 2000, Li was picked out by Chinese Ministry of Culture to take part in the 14th Chopin International Piano Competition in Warsaw, Poland. His perfect performance there conquered the judging committee made up of experienced musicians and all the audience. Unsurprisingly, he became the youngest man and the first Chinese to take the Golden Prize. Some musicians regard him as the qualified successor of Chopin with his almost perfect control of every musical element.

With his inborn musical talent and romanticism as well as thorough training, Li Yundi developed his own style of performance.