Leap of faith for hometown ballerina

After 13 years of living and working abroad, "China's dancing queen" Tan Yuanyuan still treasures memories of growing up in Shanghai, where she first leapt into professional ballet.

"I have a very fond memory of Shanghai, the place where I got started as a ballet dancer," says the acclaimed San Francisco-based principal ballerina.

Tan, 32, points to her years of rigorous training at the Shanghai Dancing School in the early 1990s as the foundation of her success today.