Downton Abbey is one of Britain's most successful television dramas. And it seems the show has even influenced affluent households thousands of miles away in China. Young Chinese people are paying £140 per day to train as butlers as an increasing number of wealthy families hire help, the People's Daily Online reported. Students at the International Butler Academy, in Chengdu, are drilled daily on ironing perfect creases into tablecloths, polishing silverware and identifying the correct cutlery to accompany an eight-course banquet. Students at the International Butler Academy in Chengdu, China, pay £140 per day to train as butlers as an increasing number of wealthy Chinese families hire helpInternational Butler Academy charges 40,000 yuan (£4,300) for six weeksTasks include polishing and placing a water jug correctly on a tableChina is home to more than a million people with assets above £1million
A short stroll away from the _ a billboard for a new housing estate shows a grinning man in a suit and bow tie, promising to bring 'the elegance of British butlering service into everyday life'.