Shanghai, January 15:

For decades it was a crime punishable by imprisonment or death. Then it became a mere social taboo to be furtively practised away from disapproving eyes. But now, being wealthy is a cau-se for celebration, prompting thousands of Chinese millionaires to come out of the closet.

More than 20 years after Deng Xiaoping pronounced the end of communism with the phrase ‘to be rich is glorious’, a generation of self-made tycoons is starting to have the time, the money and the confidence to flaunt their good fortune. They were evident at the ‘Best of the Best gala dinner’ in Shanghai, where 20 of the wealthiest entrepreneurs joined hundreds of luxury goods providers at an awa-rds ceremony for those jud-ged best able to satisfy the most expensive tastes.

Quaffing cognac and champagne in the sumptuous setting of the Pudong Shangri La ballroom, the big players of the world’s fastest growing economy handed out honours to salesmen from leading global brands.

Among the guests were Yan Jiehe, a construction mogul and second richest man in China with a fortune estimated at 850 million pounds and Timothy Chen, an internet game pioneer, reportedly worth 790 million pounds. They and 589 people with annual incomes in excess of 10 million yuan voted on their favourite brands — all names familiar in the west, but none of which they were likely to have heard of growing up in Mao Zedong’s China.

Their choices offered a snapshot of the huge cha-nge that the country has undergone — particularly at the top of the income scale. Among the prizes were fav-ourite sports car: Ferrari; fa-vourite yacht: Princess; best fashion label: Giorgio Armani; best cigar: Davidoff.

Among the few domestic products to get the seal of approval were the liquor maker Wuliangye, search engine Baidu and the 21st Century Business Herald, which was voted best newspaper. Along with the awards came the release of a lifestyle survey, which found that the favourite leisure pursuit of the affluent minority is travel, with Australia, France and Hawaii the most popular spot.

Golf, unheard of in China 20 years ago, was third on the list. Wine-tasting was eighth — ahead of spending time with a spouse or raising children — cigar-smoking 12th and, bizarrely, parach-uting 13th. Critics have poi-nted to such idiosyncratic results as a sign of the unreliability of rich lists in China. But what is most remar-ka-ble is that such surveys can be carried out at all in a cou-ntry still ruled by a nominally communist government.

When Rupert Hoogewerf, the founder of Hurun Report, which organised the awards ceremony, released his first Chinese fortune list in 1999 he was widely criticised. In the public eye being rich was associated with corruption. Few people wanted to cooperate and many of the people he outed as wealthy were targeted by tax officials, the media, and even kidnappers.

Now, however, people are more comfortable with their money, he said. “There has been a revolution in the image of wealth. Twenty years ago it was a dirty word. Now it is a sign of success. The first generation didn’t want to show they had money. They might buy a fine house, a nice watch and 20 cars, but they would not reveal them in public. The cars would stay in the garage. But today the second generation and successful young professionals are more likely to flaunt what they have.”

Cartier’s biggest single sale in China last year was of a diamond necklace valued at 1.5 million pounds. Cartier’s east China regional ma-nager said her firm had two boutiques in China in 2004 but now has 11. By 2010 this will have increased to almost 30.