Li keeps working to find 'her' music

Pop idol Li Yuchun recently released her new album I Met You in 1987. Zou Hong / China Daily

Li Yuchun graces the cover of L'Officiel

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As more than 400 fans scream her name, Li Yuchun appears onstage in a black-and-white outfit, her short hair cut in its trademark style. With her latest album I Met You in 1987, Li proves that if China's show business has to select a representative, she is the one.

Known by her English name Chris Lee in the West, Li has appeared twice on the Asian cover of Time Magazine since winning the televised singing competition Super Girl in 2005, when she got more than 3 million votes from around the country.

Li broke the stereotype of China's female pop idols with her tomboy image.

With six albums under her belt, the singer has won the 2013 MTV Europe Music Award for Best Worldwide Act.

The latest album marks Li's musical return after a two-year hiatus, during which she took on roles in movies, including the kung-fu film The Guillotines directed by Andrew Lau and the play A Dream Like a Dream directed by Stan Lai.

"I listened to the songs in the new album over and over again. I try to make sure everything in the album expresses myself properly," she says.

"I turned 30 this year and this album is like a gift for myself as well as for my fans."

The album follows the dance-oriented pop music style from her earlier albums - Dancing Young Literati in 2011 and Old If Not Wild in 2012.

She invited veteran songwriter-producer Zhang Yadong to collaborate on the album. Though the two have been working together since Li's 2006 debut album The Queen and the Dreams, Li says their cooperation this time is fresh.

They spent a lot of time in the studio, drinking tea and sharing their mutual interest in photography, and watched live shows and soccer games. Many ideas for the album came from their random chats.