Miss Laowai China- the stuff that dreams are made out of

If you always wanted to be a homecoming queen, a model, or a contestant on Oriental Angel, you may want to set your sights on the 2010 Miss Laowai China beauty pageant. The competition is sort of like the Miss Universe competition- one competitor per country will be chosen as a representative for the entire country- but only for expats in China. We're still not sure if this is a joke or a hoax, but it's certainly entertaining!

Normally, we think beauty pageants are glorified fashion shows, but Miss Laowai China seems to be a competition with real substance. After all, it's not just a pageant- it's cultural exchange!

From misslaowaichina.org:

Miss Laowai China is a promotion arena for foreigners in China. It calls for all those with talent hidden or shown. Its main objective is to give an opportunity to all those who missed a chance of being prom queens, beauty queens, top models or even those who would like to give it a shot in the entertainment business. The main aim is to showcase Things Chinese through foreigners living in China. More so, this is the place to show the culture from their country of origin.

China is a country with a history of more than five thousand years. You can be part of this history. Miss Laowai China gives all an opportunity to show your talents, passion, prowess, love, joy etc in the things few people seen you do. Here is an opportunity to speak Chinese, sing Beijing Opera, jump and kick like a Shaolin monk, do some calligraphy, sing, dance, act, etc. Its all about foreign beauty and talent in China! This is a cultural exchange land.

Of course, the competition itself will run like a normal beauty pageant, but with a few twists. Have we mentioned that you have to have Chinese talent?

All participants will be judged in the following categories

1. Chinese Talent (30)
- Participant will perform by herself and can sing, dance, play instrument, etc ( for maximum of 4 minutes)

2. Personality & National Outfit (20)
- Personality-partcipants introduces herself and includes all information from "Education and Accomplishments" ( within 2 minutes)

3. Evening Gown
- Participants walks in style long gown (Dress)

4. Question & Answer (20)
- Participants answer randomly selected question within 2 minutes

5. Posture, Composure, Presentation (eye contact, smile etc) (10)

Despite ourselves, we're kind of excited: Miss Laowai China might be the next big thing after the Shanghai Expo. If it's a real, of course. The pageant, scheduled for August 2010, is open for registration through December, so you have plenty of time to start playing the guqin, learn traditional chinese dance, or just slim down into that tiny qipao you've always dreamed of wearing.