Making their debut

Wan Baobao

The most famous Chinese woman to have danced at the annual Crillon Ball, one of the four major debutante balls held in Paris, is Wan Baobao, the granddaughter of Wan Li, who, among other roles, once served as the vice premier of the State Council in the 1980s. In 2003, the then 16-year-old Beijing-born teenager donned a strapless black Lanvin gown and Mikimoto jewelry and sparked quite a controversy as the first Chinese-born debutante. In 2007, she founded her own jewelry brand, Bao Bao Wan Fine Jewelry.