China's Soft Power Show at The Met

Intricately designed wine vessel of bronze and gold inlay

One of the exhibitions on now at The Metropolitan Museum of Art is called Age of Empires: Chinese Art of the Qin and Han Dynasties (221BC-AD220) until July 16.

Earthenware dancer full of movement

It features 160 objects that were excavated from imperial tombs over the years from the Qin and Han dynasties that help give us a better idea of what life was like, particularly for the privileged classes.

We tried to use the free audio guide, but the attendant somehow ran out of headphones but not the gadgets, so we just relied on the captions to explain. For the most part they were fine, giving explanations of the pieces much like how things were described in my art history class -- lots of observation and imagination.

Many of the items we saw were in very good condition, which makes you wonder about the rest of the things unearthed -- there must have been thousands of items that were crushed or so disintegrated there was nothing left to show.

A lively bronze horse with its groom

We particularly liked the sculptures of animals, both large ones like a bronze horse that looked energetic with its nostrils flared and looking confident with its groom, to an anatomically correct replica of a goose, to a small representation of an elephant and rhinoceros. All these animals were with the deceased in their journey to the underworld.

Even remnants of fabric managed to survive all these centuries, giving us an idea of the kinds of patterns and colours of the clothes they wore at the time. There were also lacquer trays and bowls -- that were even found with food on them when they were excavated. Pretty amazing.

Delicate embroidered fabrics that have survived centuries

I'd see the terracotta warriors before in Xian, so seeing a few of them on display wasn't as impressive. Nevertheless, the large bronze wine vessels with intricate designs were, along with the jade funeral suits that looked like patches of jade armour all over the body, and models of two and three-storey houses.

For the China this was an excellent exercise in soft power  -- linking this exhibition to the Silk Road -- and hence Belt and Road -- as a way to get everyone on board or at least interested, as some pieces in the show were from the Middle East to demonstrate that China didn't just conquer other people, but integrated part of their cultures as well.

A jade funeral suit connected with gold wire

Granted the exhibition is also sponsored by the likes of the Joseph Hotung Fund, the Henry Luce Foundation, and the estate of Brooke Astor to give the show more street cred with the New York and arts crowd, the major sponsor is China Merchants Bank -- a big PR coup for the state-owned bank.

Age of Empires: Chinese Art of the Qin and Han Dynasties (221BC-AD220)

Gallery 899, The Tisch Galleries

Until July 16, 2017

Fact of the Day: Number of China's Rich X9

The wealth gap in China is getting even bigger with even more wealthy people

A private survey has found the number of rich people in China has risen nearly nine times in a decade.

Those with at least 10 million yuan of investable assets hit 1.6 million in 2016, up from 180,000 in 2006, according to the 2017 China Private Wealth Report by Bain Consulting and China Merchants Bank.

The overall value of the private wealth market rose to 165 trillion yuan last year, growing 21 percent annually from 2014-2016. It's expected to reach 188 trillion yuan this year.

The rich spend a lot of money on luxury and invest abroad

There are about 120,000 "high net worth individuals" who had at least 100 million yuan worth of investable assets, up from fewer than 10,000 people in 2006.

The percentage of rich people with overseas investment rose to 56 percent this year, up from 19 percent in 2011.

The top four destinations for investment were Hong Kong, the United States, Australia and Canada, though Hong Kong's popularity fell 18 percent and the US fell 3 percent from 2015-2017.

Respondents said their top reasons for investing overseas was to diversify risks, capture market opportunities and migrate.

The wealthy are concentrated in major cities and coastal areas, but the survey found 22 provinces have at least 20,000 high net worth individuals.

One thing wealthy Chinese can't buy is class...

One can't help but wonder if this wealth amassed in a short period of time is due to loose credit from banks and they've taken advantage of this to invest in real estate and other appreciative assets.

The other possibility is investing early in property and it has significantly appreciated within a decade.

Either way it's a staggering number of nouveau riche in China who are looking for places to spend their money. They are definitely looking overseas for greater security and better living environment.

Anyone who has the access to some kind of wealth are trying to get it out of the country through investing in insurance products or real estate.

But the one thing they can't buy is sophistication and manners.