During the course of the evening, Christies chaired a lively charity auction raising US$55,000, which EuromoneyChina donated to a China Charity Federation program to help students from low-income families through university education and Tsunami relief. Since April 2004, EuromoneyChina has raised US$185,000 for charitable programs through the Best Things in Life series.

Lu Siqing, one of the most celebrated violinists of China and the first Asian to take First Prize at the prestigious Paganini International Violin Competition in Italy in 1987, gave an outstanding performance playing on one of the rarest violins in the world, a US$5 million Giuseppe Guarneri violin dating back to 1724.

With guests sipping Vintage 1996 Dom Perignon, Christies enthralled with a talk on Repatriation of Chinese Art.

The next Best Things in Life will take place in Shenzhen in March and Shanghai in April.

EuromoneyChina would like thank the kind donors to the charity auction

• Two watercolour paintings by Henry Yik-Tong Shih donated by the China Charity Federation
  
• Eight-day luxury tour of Germany, France and Monaco for two people, with business class air tickets donated by Lufthansa and room nights at each of the Hotel Kempinski Vier Jahreszeiten (Munich, Germany), Bastide St Mathieu (Cannes, France) and Hotel de Paris (Monaco).
  
• Four-day luxury tour of Austria and Lake Geneva for two people, with business class tickets donated by Austrian Airlines and room nights at the Hotel Sacher (Vienna) and Royal Parc Evian (Lake Geneva).
  
• Davidoff ‘Marine' Humidor together with 1 box of Vintage 2000 cigars
  
• Bottle of Richard Hennessey Cognac signed by the master blender
  
• Bottle of 1990 Vintage Dom Perignon donated by Dom Perignon
  
• Two room nights at the Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong

photos

Lu Siqing's outstanding performance on a US$5 million Guarneri from 1724 David Deng Wei Qi Jianhong friend bidding for the humidor