In 1994, after four years of hosting a TV show, Yang realized she knew so little about the world and decided to quit her job and pursue a postgraduate degree in New York, where she met her husband.

Now, Yang is the host of two popular TV talk shows and she runs a media empire, Sun Media Group, with her husband. The couple ranks among China's richest, according to the Hurun Report, which tracks the nation's wealthiest list. In 2005, they donated half of their shares in Sun Media Investment to start their charitable foundation.

Yang says she spends a third of her time on charity work, "which is the best way to show the value of a person as a member of society".

In 2010 she co-organized a banquet in Beijing with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. That brought Bill Gates and Warren Buffett together to discuss philanthropy with more than 30 of China's billionaire families.

A member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Yang also proposed a law on philanthropy.

After the recent ball, at a private forum, she invited former US president Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn to share their experiences working in charity - and their hopes to help China's charity develop in a sustainable way, like the economy.

"Fu erdai or guan erdai, those who inherited properties from their rich parents, are considered negative words. How do you turn fu erdai or guan erdai into ci erdai, or those who promote education and build a culture of philanthropy in China," she says. Ci erdai translates to "second generation philanthropists".

Giving to charity is growing in China, with a number of young entrepreneurs creating their own foundations, but she concedes charity still needs time to develop in the country.

"To be more respected in this world, we should show our moral dignity instead of just our spending power," she says.

Contact the writer at chennan@chinadaily.com.cn.