SUZHOU, CHINA

The last of four Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra buses was getting ready to pull out of the parking lot when a black car raced into view. Inside were Ying Li and Jiabin Pan, former Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre principal dancers who retired in 2006 and returned to their homeland in China.

Pan is a native of Suzhou, the rapidly growing city about an hour's drive west of Shanghai, where Li was born. That meant that their son, Ethan, now 4, could grow up around family.

Everyone in Pittsburgh knew them as homebodies, alternating between their careers at PBT and their house in Squirrel Hill, where Pan showed his talents as an expert at remodeling.

Suzhou is no different.

Since coming back, Li and Pan really hadn't been to the "old" part of town, with its 700-year-old Master of Nets garden, the silk factory and the canals that caused Marco Polo to call it the "Venice of China." That led to some confusion in locating the buses.

But after warm greetings, Li and Pan whisked a visitor off to an eastern suburb called the Suzhou Industrial Park. Built around Lake Jin Ji, it is now home to 200 of the Forbes 500 top global companies.

Everything there is new, beginning with the wide-open streets and landscaping. Jiabin noted that they had boulevards to nowhere for several years before the buildings went up in this planned community.

In that mix is the $220 million Suzhou Science, Technology, Cultural and Art Center. It was designed by French architect Paul Andreu, who also designed Beijing's National Theatre for the Performing Arts (nicknamed "The Egg" because of its ellipsoidal titanium form located in a reflecting pool).

Actually, the Suzhou facility is more reminiscent of Beijing's grand National Stadium, site of the Olympic opening ceremonies and nicknamed "The Bird's Nest." It has the same woven quality, except it is more delicate and is cast in the shape of a crescent moon, with a separate building resembling a pearl with its frameless glass facade. A courtyard garden is nestled in between the two. The cultural center glows at night, changing colors from purple to pink, blue and green.

Inside the soaring hall are the 1,200-seat Grand Theatre, 500-seat Dinner Theatre, a Cineplex, an IMAX Theatre, exhibition galleries, function halls and a commercial center.

Li and Pan live in an apartment building across the street and just bought another down the road. It needs to be finished -- new Chinese apartments are just a shell -- but Pan is looking forward to it, when and if he has the time.

The husband and wife team were hired as ballet master and mistress for China's latest ballet company, only the sixth in this land of 1.3 billion people.

Stephen Jeffries, former principal with England's Royal Ballet and artistic director of the Hong Kong Ballet, was hired to jump-start the Suzhou Ballet. It was to be a major effort, with 30 international dancers and 30 Chinese dancers.

Jeffries, however, did not communicate with government officials along the way. His dark contemporary ballet premiere was not well-received, and he was dismissed.

Chinese officials wanted to disband the company and let Li and Pan start a new one, but the pair persuaded the officials to keep the 30 young Chinese dancers. Still, they would start from scratch.

They are presenting educational performances, such as a highlights program from "Swan Lake" or "Sleeping Beauty," to acquaint Suzhou audiences with classical ballet. They even have to teach local people to construct tutus, so, for the present, the dancers perform in unitards.

But all is going well. Li and Pan have studios in another new shopping mall, with space donated by a supporter of the cultural center. And they celebrated their cultural center's first anniversary in the Dinner Theatre, which was scheduled to receive more traditional seating last month.

Pan was excited. He and Li had just returned from a stint with the Guangzhou Ballet, where they choreographed a premiere, one that the company hopes to take on a tour to Germany.

For his own company, he has been preparing a rock ballet and was constructing a program for the anniversary similar to the mixed repertory programs at Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre.

They find themselves in on the ground floor of a major expansion in Suzhou, which has been designated as the technology center of China. "Ballet is important, like the symphony," says Li. "They want this to be an international city."

Pittsburgh seemed far away, and Pan haltingly admitted that he misses "the people" and "my house," which they still own in Squirrel Hill.

But the sky's the limit in Suzhou. As Pan put it, "We always wanted a ballet company of our own. We just didn't expect it to happen so soon."