China cheers first Miss World title
China gave a cheer to its first Miss World on Sunday, with Internet
chat rooms filled with praise for the 23-year-old beauty queen.
Zhang Zilin, a Beijing secretary who was born in the gritty northern
industrial city of Shijiazhuang, scooped the title late on Saturday on
the southern Chinese resort island of Hainan. A blog by Zhang on the Web
portal Sina.com had over 1 million hits as of Sunday, with many fans
posting their congratulations.
“You’ve brought honour to our country! We’re all happy for you! We’re
proud for China!” wrote a fan named “Tango”.
Long frowned upon by Beijing’s Communist leadership, beauty pageants
and other such contests have become hugely popular over the past several
years. Many local television stations organise contests for everything
from amateur TV anchors to models to American Idol-style singing
contests.
Still, the government has tried to keep a check on them, banning
television talent shows in prime time and telling anchors and
contestants not to behave provocatively.
Newspapers ran only brief reports on Zhang’s conquest.
The front page of the Beijing News, a popular daily in the capital,
was dominated by a large photo of a migrant worker taking part in an
HIV/AIDS awareness campaign, with a much smaller photo of Zhang at the
bottom of the page.
Micaela Reis of Angola came second and Carolina Moran Gordillo of
Mexico was third, according to the pageant’s Web site.
Beijing, Sunday, Reuters |