 Two daughters of prominent Chinese families are to lead a pack of young debutantes at an extravagant Paris ball on the weekend that looms large in the calendars of the planet's rich and powerful. The presence of Chen Xiaodan, the daughter of the governor of the Bank of China, and Veronica Chou, the daughter of an influential tycoon, confirmed the growing stature of Chinese on the international jet-set circuit.
| More power to yez, girlies... |
They will be among peers aged 17-21 from 15 countries who on Saturday night will turn out in luxurious robes at the opulent 250-year-old Hotel Crillon in central Paris to mark their "coming of age" and entry into "society". The exclusive annual ball held there has long attracted the daughters of some of the world's most high-profile families. In previous years, the daughters, neices or granddaughters of statesmen — Bill Clinton, George Bush, Mikhail Gorbachev, Silvio Berlusconi — or celebrities — novellists Danielle Steel and Ernest Hemingway — or European aristocracy have attended. |