Butlers the latest must-have for China's nouveau riche
Top academy for upmarket home help has set up branch on mainland to knock the rough edges off tycoons who see service as their right
The rise of China's super-rich has lured one of the world's top schools for butlers to set up a branch on the mainland.
International Butler Academy chairman Robert Wennekes said the school in Chengdu aimed to cultivate a culture of service in a country that had only recently begun to appreciate the finer points of presentation.
"When people go to a restaurant, all they care about is the food, and not where and how - and indeed, if - the service is good," Wennekes said.
"New millionaires are made every day in China," said Wennekes. "And when they have a large villa with elaborate decoration and marble flooring they need someone who knows what they are doing.
"As people become better off they look at a restaurant's decor, how clean the toilet is, what kind of material the serviette is made of."
The rising demand for butlers in the East follows a long decline in the West. There are about 10,000 butlers in Britain, down from 30,000 in the late 1930s, although their numbers have recovered from a low in the 1980s, according to International Guild of Professional Butlers.