His father had no formal musical training, so Yue learned technique from these neighbouring musicians, and how to put his whole body, not simply his breath, into playing the flute.

He has also recorded with his brother Guo Yi (郭艺), who plays the sheng (a sort of bamboo mouth organ).

From 2003 he has worked in "Shan Qi" with Giovanni Amighetti, Helge A. Norbakken, Guido Ponzini, Wu Fei, and Gjermund Silset.

Yue's range has extended far beyond traditional Chinese music, and he has worked with Peter Gabriel, Sinéad O'Connor and Hothouse Flowers.

In 1992 he won an American instrumental award with the album Trisan (Real World) in partnership with the Japanese taiko drummer Joji Hirota, and the Irish singer/composer Pol Brennan.

In 1995 Yue and Joji recorded the album Red Ribbon, and his bamboo flute concerto 'My Peking Alley' was performed at the 1999 WOMAD Festival in Reading with the BBC Concert Orchestra.

[4] He also played George Fenton's soundtrack theme for the Channel Four television documentary Beyond the Clouds, which won an Emmy.

Its director Phil Agland said: 'In the magical hands of Guo Yue, the bawu flute creates sounds that haunt the soul'.

He tells how these things enabled him to find an outlet for self-expression at a time when freedom and individuality were frowned upon, and even suppressed by the policies of Mao Zedong.

It's beautifully illustrated by the artist Helen Cann, and it was this book that formed the source material for the Horse and Bamboo production.