Pan proves you're never too young for success

TWELVE-year-old Pan Yiqiong is not like other girls her age in China. She neither listens to the Taiwanese or Hongkong pop songs nor does she keep any of their tapes. She feels her violin music is far superior to anything they have to offer.

A student of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Pan first picked up her violin at 31/2 years old. Last June the child prodigy took the old and worn instrument to Moscow to participate in the first Tchaikovsky Music Competition.

Initially competition officials would not allow her to compete, saying she was too young, but they made an exception. It was Pan's first competition and she came second overall. Her father, who went with her, was exhilarated and the former carpenter began working at the Conservatory after his daughter's victory. He is now learning how to make violins.

Pan practises three to four hours every day. She does not watch any television. ''If you give me one free day, I wouldn't know what to do,'' she said. Her teacher is Yu Lina, the nationally acclaimed violinist who was also a student there.

The Shanghai Conservatory of Music has the strictest enrolment requirements in China. Pan and 19 children were chosen from hundreds of applicants to study there.

There are five college years, and the teacher-student ratio is one to one. Most students practise up to eight hours a day.

Two famous musicians, Dr Tsai Yuan Pei and Dr Hsiao Yiu Mei founded the Conservatory in 1927. At that time, it was called the National Conservatory of Music.