China: Of Hard-Liners And Beauty

The pageant was slated to be the city of Beijing's first beauty contest since the 1949 revolution, and students, dancers, even nurses from the People's Liberation Army rushed to sign up as contestants. Communist Party hard-liners, however, apparently felt that bourgeois tendencies were getting out of hand. Television coverage of the event was canceled. Instead, 40 quarter-finalists assembled last week before a sprinkling of spectators in an austere union hall for what was dubbed a tea party. Rather than choose a single Miss Beijing, the pageant organizers honored twelve "outstanding contestants who left a relatively deep impression." Several were chosen for their "inner beauty" rather than their physical attributes.