"The tour China once again presents opportunities to showcase the Australian Ballet's position as a great cultural ambassador for Australia, highlighting the world class skill and talent of their artists and productions and many cultural exchanges that have been initiated as a result of the company's long association with China."

Changing stage

"The ballet could appeal to the broadest audiences. It covers boundary of countries across the world," McAllister said.

The Australian Ballet first visited China in 1980, to Beijing and Shanghai. McAllister first went with the group in 1987, when "people were wearing uniforms when they went to see the opera", and many of the audiences "were diplomatic people."

The 54-year-old said he witnessed "enormous changes" in China during the past three decades.

"In 2001 when I was in Beijing, they announced that the city was to host the Olympics. It was an extraordinary experience to be there, seeing the firework, the party when I looked down from the hotel roof," he said. He also visited the Expo site in Shanghai some years later.

"We could see the modernization," he said. "The theaters are bigger." He was especially impressed by the National Centre for Performing Arts, with a dome and quite mammoth.

"The theater in Shanghai is also quite beautiful," he said, noting that Beijing and Shanghai, both with great architectures, are like Melbourne and Sydney, with the former serious and the latter flamboyant.