Inspiring piano prodigy Ying-Shan Tseng, 8, is totally blind

Ying-Shan Tseng is only eight years old, but after just three years of piano lessons, she's been named the top junior instrumentalist at the South African Championships for Performing Arts.

A stunning achievement for any child her age, but what makes the story truly remarkable is that Ying-Shan is totally blind.

"I really like music, when I make the sound it is painting a picture. It makes me happy," Ying-Shan said.

The South African piano prodigy, who must learn every piece by braille and then commit it to memory, "has no trouble breezing through Tchaikovsky and Mozart concertos," The Daily Mail reports.

"In the first month she could do little songs that other kids can do after three or four months. She's absolutely amazing," Ying-Shan's teacher, Elize Weldhagen, told Carte Blanche.

Ying-Shan, who is also talented academically, was named the most inspiring junior performer at the National Eisteddfod Academy for Performing Arts where she studies.

"I don't know where her ability has come from, but we will do all we can to help her become a professional performer," Ching-Hsuan Tseng, Ying-Shan's mother, said.

"She has taught me so much about perseverance and dedication in the way she masters her talents."

Perhaps inspired by the teachers who've invested in her and her talent, Ying-Shan says she wants to be a teacher when she grows up.