Praise for China's Miss World
2007-12-02 08:32
Beijing - 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 one 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.
- Reuters