China showcased dizzying lifts, spins and jumps Friday and took the top two spots in the pairs free skate and the overall competition at the Cup of China.

In the men's short program, China's Gao Song was the surprising winner, defeating favorite Tim Goebel of the United States and teammate Li Chengjiang.

Goebel, an Olympic bronze medalist, was skating for the first time since pulling out of Skate America after problems with his skates caused him pain during training. He earned 67.70 points for second place despite falling while attempting a triple axel.

In the pairs free skate, Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo skated a poetic program set to Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker" that won them first place and 125.80 points. Teammates Pang Qing and Tong Jian were second with 119.06.

Russia's Maria Petrova and Alexi Tikhonov were third with 107.66 points, retaining their overall position despite a stumble by Tikhonov, his second in as many days.

Rena Inoue and John Baldwin Jr. of the United States were fifth with 97.74.

Goebel said he was happy to be skating despite problems at the beginning of this season. Except for the mistake, the rest of this dramatic program -- set to Prokofiev's "Romeo and Juliet" -- was strong.

"It was a big step for me to pull it together," he said.

Earlier, Russia's Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov gave a sinuous performance in the original dance program for ice dancing, holding their lead on the second day.

Cup of China replaces the Nations Cup in the Grand Prix series. It had been in jeopardy during the SARS outbreak this year but was approved after the epidemic was declared under control in July.

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