How do the Chinese rich live? A Japanese TV station filmed the daily life of a rich housewife in Shanghai. Several rich housewives went shopping together in the top luxury stores. One of the ladies took a look at a red dress worth 50,000 yuan, and she decided to buy it at once, even though it didn’t fit her that well. She would come back and pick it up later in a few days after the store made the alternations to the dress. Another lady returned home after shopping followed by the Japanese reporter. The reporter requested to show some of her favorite collections. The hostess took out over ten European luxury brand watches worth millions of yuan each, lying them out on silky smooth velvet.

The lives of the rich are rarely disclosed on camera in China, but the stories are widely recognized in rich circles. The wife of a real estate tycoon in Beijing, told a journalist that she was not a prodigal person, the most luxurious item she bought was the European brand stereo system worth 120,000 yuan. But she spoke frankly that there were not a small number of her friends in the circle who were fans of luxury. One real estate developer loves jeeps very much. He was droving a Land Rover, but switched to a Hummer worth around 2 million yuan in no time. Another businessman bought one of the biggest jeeps in the world—big enough to hold parties. A clinic owner keeps a horse ranch by himself and raises 7 racehorses worth above 20,000 US dollars each. And the last guy, in real estate business as well, spent 50 million yuan on a holiday villa for himself and friends, which including dozens of guest rooms and 28 people to staff the villa. The electricity bill alone costs 50,000 yuan per month.

Wang Zhongjun is loaded and happy to flaunt it. He wears Prada shoes, Versace jackets, and a Piaget watch. He smokes Cohiba cigars from Cuba. He drives a white Mercedes-Benz (DCX ) SL600, a silver BMW Z8, and a red Ferrari (FIA ) 360. His art collection includes hundreds of sculptures and paintings. Value: $30 million or so. Home sweet home is a 22,000 square-foot mansion north of Beijing with antique British and French furniture, a billiard room with a bar, and an indoor pool. When he tires of swimming, Wang can head to his stable (annual upkeep: $500,000) of 60 horses from Ireland, France, and Kentucky. "Entrepreneurs in China today feel much safer than before," says Wang, a 45-year-old movie producer who served in the Chinese army, studied in the U.S., and learned painting before backing internationally acclaimed films such as Kung Fu Hustle. "We are more accepted by the media, government, and society today."

More than 300,000 Chinese have a net worth over $1 million, excluding property, according to Merrill Lynch & Co. (MER ). And mainland millionaires control some $530 billion in assets, Boston Consulting Group estimates.