How a man from a village changed traditional art form

In 1996, Li Yugang, the first person in his hometown, a remote village in Northeast China's Jilin province, to pass the national university entrance exam, had to drop out because his family could not afford college fees.

However, Li, then 19, did not want to farm the land like his ancestors had done for generations. So, he left home to pursue his dream of performing and became a club singer.

"Everyone laughed at me and they said I was gambling," says Li, now 38.