The Riverdancephenomenon continues this week arriving in China for what organisers say will be one of the most successful tours to visit the most populous country in the world.
The run, which coincides with a visit by President McAleese, is a sellout with more than 50,000 tickets bought and two performances added due to demand.
It opens today in Tiananmen Square's Great Hall of the People - the seat of government and the venue for major Communist Party meetings. It then moves to Shanghai for five performances before moving on to Japan.
The trip is a unique experience for the show's crew, dancers and musicians, said director John McColgan.
"This visit to China is the fulfillment of a dream," he said.
The show almost did not happen. Organisers delayed it indefinitely earlier this year due to the outbreak of Sars, which also caused the cancellation of the first-ever concert by the Rolling Stones.
The performance shows how far China's commercial market for foreign entertainment has come. Though acts ranging from Three Tenors to Icelandic pop singer Bjork have performed in the Communist stare, few have been major successes or made much money.
"This is one of our best box office records ever," said Mr Zhang Yu, president of China Performing Art Agents, the commercial division of China's Culture Ministry.
Beijing will be the 206th city played by Riverdancein eight years of touring. With two companies now touring, an estimated 12 million people have now seen the live performance.
Not bad for a show that began as an interval act for the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin.
AP