Miss Asia - China 2009

The lovely Xu Ying (许莹) was the recent winner of the 2009 Miss Asia China beauty pageant, held in Dongguan, China.

Xu Ying is 21 year old and a dance instructor from Anhui, China. As the winner, she receives prizes worth over HK$2 million (RM889,300) and a contract with Asia Television Limited (ATV), the pageant's sponsor.

1st and 2nd runners up,Wang Zifei (王紫菲- #3) and Wang Jinjin (王津津 - #4) are pictured above with Xu Ying.

The competition, televised in Hong Kong, got a bit of criticism for "promoting flesh" to boost its ratings.The show's organizers apparently had the 12 finalists wear "see-through angel costumes" to help draw its TV audience which was said to be over 850,000 viewers (can't blame them - I'd like to watch pretty Chinese "see-through angels too!).

The pageant is sponsored by Asia Television Limited and has been held annually since 1985. Until 2004, it was an exclusively Hong Kong event, but has since opened to contestants from all parts of Asia. There is no age limit for contestants and in 1995, the winner was 48 year old Gong Xuehua. Chinese women can certainly look younger than their age.