"A Chinese garden? I though we were going to a Chinese restaurant," he joked.
"He likes to eat so much. Too much," his aunt, Sheena Yau, immediately chided.
Li (28) is making his first visit to Dunedin to perform with the Southern Sinfonia tomorrow. He was in good humour during a sneak preview of the garden.
"It's amazing. It looks like I'm back in China right now," he said. "Everything is so realistic, so authentic."
However, Li said his excitement at being in Dunedin was tinged with sadness at the earthquake in the southwest province of Sichuan, which killed more than 41,000 people on May 12.
Another 245,000 people were injured and 32,000 are still missing after the 7.9-magnitude earthquake.
"I am very, very sad about the earthquake," Li said. "I have two friends in Sichuan right now who I can't get in touch with. I tried to call them 10 times, but there's no signal.
"I hope there's a chance for me to go to the ground zero and play some sort of complimentary concert for the victims."
Li was born in Qing Dao, but moved to Hong Kong with his family when he was 5.
He is considered among the best of the new generation of international violinists and will play Mozart's Violin Concerto No.5 tomorrow.
"I have never performed this concerto before, so it's a challenge for me," he said.
"But it has a beautiful purity. An atmosphere that is truly from the heart. I think it will be fun."
Chuanyun Li performs with the Southern Sinfonia, led by conductor Werner Andreas Albert, at 3pm tomorrow in the Glenroy Auditorium.
The programme also includes Serenade for Strings (Bruch) and Symphony in C (Bizet).
The Chinese garden is scheduled to be opened to the public in the next two weeks, with an official opening planned for September.
