A 12-year-old self-taught young guitarist from China has become a viral sensation with a rendition of Australian hard rock band AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck”, played in the style of Italian guitarist Luca Stricagnoli.

Liu Jiazhou, the young prodigy first picked up a guitar at the age of 7, and although he has shared other covers in the past, it was his performance of 'Thunderstruck' that went viral on microblogging platform Weibo.

It has garnered more than 20 million hits on Weibo, nearly 43 million views on Tencent Video and 7 million views on video sharing platform Miaopai since it was uploaded a week ago.

On the viral video, Liu told the Chinese media that he was unaware of his school teacher recording his performance. His dad had introduced music to him since he was young and had even quit his job to groom him three years ago.

"When there's no one to appreciate you, one should be courageous in seeking out ways to outdo themselves and show what they can do."

Take a look at the speed and skill of his playing in this video that made him famous:

See other videos of the prodigious Liu playing the guitar with remarkable skills:

Top photo from YouTube

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