Dancing on a changing stage: the Australian ballet to embark on ninth China visit

He also saw changes in clothing, with more luxurious fashion brands becoming increasingly accepted by the Chinese people.

"Now they have more western experience," he said "There are a lot of middle class people who came to the show with their families."

Meanwhile, more Chinese dancing groups went abroad and McAllister saw "a rise of Chinese dancers".

It doesn't mean the lack of good ballet dancers in the past. In fact, McAllister once took part in a competition in the 1980s when he saw "wonder Chinese dancers", "but then they didn't travel a lot."

Chinese dancers

Currently Australian Ballet has three Chinese dancers, all of whom graduated from the Beijing Dance Academy. One of them, Guo Chengwu, has already become a principal dancer who visited China with the group in 2015.

Xu Yipeng is another Chinese dancer in the group.

"I am so happy to be performing on the stage of my motherland," said the 22-year-old dancer who is known to his colleagues as Lucien. "My parents will be watching."

He was born in Xuzhou of East China's Jiangsu province. His father once worked in the Shanghai Dance School.