In July this year, the country's first-ever school for butlers opened its doors in Chengdu, Sichuan province.
The International Butler Academy is run by former butlers from Belgium, Canada, the United States and Switzerland, and charges a daunting RMB110,000 tuition fee for a grueling eight-week course that covers shoe-shining, table-laying and wine-pouring.
The fee also includes a smart three-piece suit and shoe-shining kit, as well as meals and field trips to stately homes in Europe.
The first permanent, accredited school of its kind, the Academy is the brainchild of experienced Dutch butler Robert Wennekes, who previously served as head butler for the US embassy in Berlin.
The school is located in a luscious Chengdu villa that includes a swimming pool, two saunas and a bar.
The enormous popularity of British period drama Downton Abbey has reportedly added to demand amongst the super-rich for butlers and valets.
The school breaks with butlering tradition by training women as well, who are, reportedly, particularly popular in Middle Eastern households.
On Chinese social media, several web users condemned the Academy as a "Slave School" and "tumor of capitalism."
One popular post railed that "Chinese are indifferent and ignorant about their own great culture and don't care enough to save it, yet they revere the vulgar peoples of Western Europe!"
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