China's first Olympic Winner?

He was the first Chinese pianist to be engaged by the Berlin Philharmonic, performing with the British conductor Sir Simon Rattle, as well as the Vienna Philharmonic and all the leading US orchestras. Last year, at the Prince of Wales's invitation, Lang Lang performed a concerto commissioned in memory of the Queen Mother.

This year he has duelled pianos with Herbie Hancock at the Grammys, and has worked with Adidas to make a training shoe that has his name in Chinese written on the side, and a piano pedal graphic on the insole. Lang Lang's name has a trademark sign beside it at each reference on his website. This is the classical artist as global brand and his marketing abilities are nearly as accomplished as his professional skills.

Lang Lang's mother wanted to be a professional dancer; his father hoped to travel the world as a musician. But their ambitions died an untimely death when they became victims of China’s cultural revolution. Jobs weren’t chosen; they were assigned. And so, like a generation of mothers and fathers living under China’s one-child policy, they sacrificed everything and placed their dreams into the hands of their only hope.

To the Chinese, the 26-year-old musician from the north-eastern city of Shenyang, a steel town famous for building tanks and trains, rivals the basketball legend Yao Ming and hurdler Liu Xiang in their affections. His innate feel for popular culture, with daring references to kung fu and video games peppering his discussions of the great composers, has made classical music accessible in China in a fundamental way. He has been filmed playing Chopin using an orange.

"I play piano like a multi-media website. You have the pictures, you have the scores, also you have the harmonies, it's like you're playing with computers, but obviously with heart," he told the Asia Society last year.

This message certainly works with China's 30 million piano students, and his legions of female fans, see his appearance at the opening ceremony as the true highlight of the Games. He won great domestic plaudits for his work to help the victims of the Sichuan earthquake in May, and he will auction [his trademark] red Steinway to raise money for that cause.

Not everyone believes Lang's assertion that musical performance is about balancing emotion with being in control, and his flamboyance has irked members of the musical establishment. Anthony Tommasini, chief music critic of The New York Times, has described his playing as "incoherent" and "hammy", although he has been more positive of late.

The opening ceremony is being orchestrated by Zhang Yimou, China's most famous film director, whose previous public performances in opera can lead us to expect a lot of red and emotion.

Lang will be a central feature in the ceremony that night. It's a fair bet that he might play The Yellow River Concerto, a huge hit with local audiences. Whatever we can look forward to, do not expect understatement.