The Miss China 2005 beauty pageant debuted in Shanghai Tuesday, promising to reveal contemporary Chinese women's "healthy, cordial and benevolent qualities."
The pageant rejects applicants who have had plastic surgery, whom it considers "artificial beauties," the pageant's organization committee said.
The pageant will judge women according to their stage performance, daily communication skills, education and language proficiency, the committee said.
"All revenue of the pageant will be used for social welfare," said Long Yuxiang, an official with China International Culture Dispersion Center, the sponsor of the event. Long said the Miss China 2003 pageant contributed to the founding of eight schools in central China's Hubei and east China's Anhui provinces.
The three-phase pageant is to begin in February in 12 cities across China, and its finals will be held in October.
(Xinhua News Agency January 21, 2005)
