Outraged by the bad manners and rudeness she encountered when she moved to Shanghai, the etiquette and style expert has embarked on a crusade to introduce the Chinese to a world of refinement.

Some would say Ms Yamada has taken on a Herculean task, given the fondness of the Chinese for hawking, spitting and picking their noses in public, queue-barging, pushing their way on and off buses and trains, shouting into mobile phones and spitting out bones and unwanted food on restaurant floors. Then there's the fact that "please" and "thank you" are the least-used words in the Chinese language.

So ingrained are these behavioural quirks that the mayor of Beijing, Wang Qishan, believes that the hardest part of preparing Beijing to host the 2008 Olympics will be improving the manners of its residents. "I really worry whether the audience will stand up when the national anthem of another country is played, or whether Chinese athletes will be greeted with applause if they lose, " Mr Wang said earlier this year.

Born in Tokyo and educated in Los Angeles, Yamada worked as a model and a fashion consultant to business moguls and Hollywood stars before coming to Shanghai.

Ridding the Chinese of their bad habits may not be so easy, but Yamada doesn't lack confidence. She promises that anyone who completes her course on table manners at the June Yamada Academy will be "ready to dine with Queen Elizabeth II".

"Absolutely. You'll learn how to dress properly, how to say 'thank you' when you're escorted into the room, how to sit correctly, " she says.

"The lack of table manners is the worst thing for Chinese people, because it gives them such a bad reputation. It was very mysterious to me at first, because I come from Japan, which is probably the politest nation in the world."

Now, after four years of living in China, Yamada believes she has the answer. "When the Chinese don't say 'please' or 'thank you', it's because they've been busy trying to find a bowl of rice to eat. When you're poverty-stricken, it's inevitable you become selfcentred. You have to, it's about survival."

But with China's economy booming, and an ever-increasing urban middle class with spare cash to spend, Yamada has had no shortage of students willing to pay up to 990 Yuan ( 100) an hour for her courses since she opened her academy a year ago.

She has also become a media celebrity: her book detailing her reaction to the bad manners she encountered on her arrival, Tell It Like It Is, June, became an instant bestseller when it was published in January 2005. This summer she will present a TV series based on the book.

Yamada's battle against bad manners is being echoed by the authorities. Last year, Beijing began a three-year programme aimed at improving behaviour at sporting events.

It was inspired by complaints from some of the world's top snooker players, including Jimmy White, about the way the China Open in March 2005 was disrupted by people refusing to switch off their mobile phones during frames.