Oh, baby! China's best team might get bigger Shen Xue (top) and Zhao Hongbo perform at Artistry on Ice in 2011. Provided to China Dail...

Oh, baby! China's best team might get bigger

Shen Xue (top) and Zhao Hongbo perform at Artistry on Ice in 2011. Provided to China Daily

Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo decided to add one more member to their team. 

After teaming up for 20 years, China's top figure skating decided to take a rest from their busy careers and have a baby. 

"This year marks the 20th year of our cooperation and it means a lot for us," Shen, 33, said at a press conference to introduce their third figure skating gala, Artistry on Ice, on Wednesday. "There might be some changes for us next year." 

Her husband and partner Zhao confirmed the change will be a baby. 

"We are at the age to have a baby and our parents expect it very much," said the 38-year-old Zhao. "We hope to have a baby this year." 

Still, the couple won't stop working to promote figure skating, at least not before the Artistry on Ice shows in June. 

The show will be themed "Red Temptation" this year, and the multiple world-champion and Olympic-champion couple is expected to offer something new for the fans. 

"It is a most difficult year for us to plan such a show, since we seemed to have given out all we have at the show the last two years," Shen said. 

"To achieve a breakthrough at this year's performance, we went to study the choreography of modern dance at the Beijing Dance Academy. We finally chose red as the theme, because it's our lucky color and it also means festivity for Chinese people." 

The first Artistry on Ice performance was held in Beijing in 2010. The theme was "Love and Beauty", and the two were married during the show. The show last year was held in Beijing, Shanghai and Taipei, with the theme of "Art and City". 

Artistry on Ice will start in Taipei on June 9 and come to Beijing for the second stop on June 12. Shenzhen will host the show for the first time on June 15, and the last stop will be in Shanghai on June 17. 

"The first half of the show will be a prelude, and the latter half will feature hot dancing, heavy metal rock-and-roll and the combination of black and red," Zhao said. 

"It will be a great challenge for us." 

Like previous performances, the show will feature several of the world's top figure skaters. 

The roster includes Evgeni Plushenko of Russia, the three-time men's singles world champion and Turin Winter Olympic champion; Johnny Weir of the US, who is nicknamed "Lady Gaga on ice"; Kim Yu-na of South Korea, the Vancouver Winter Olympic women's singles champion; Suzuki Arakawa of Japan, the Turin Winter Olympic women's singles champion; and Kurt Browning, the four-time men's singles world champion from Canada. 

Hungarian violinist Edvin Marton and Taiwanese singer Tiger Wong will also join the show. 

The Chinese skaters include rising pair Sui Wenjing and Han Cong, women's singles teen Li Zijun and men's national champion Song Nan.