116 contestants for Miss World pageant in China desert city

A total of 116 contestants — the highest number ever — took to the
stage after a dance by a troupe dressed as Mongolian warriors at the
start of the contest, watched annually by about a billion people
around the globe.
This year it takes place on the arid and sparsely populated steppes of
Inner Mongolia, where Ordos, around 700 kilometres (440 miles) from
the nearest beach, makes an unusual venue for the world's biggest
beauty pageant.
Reigning Miss World Ivian Sarcos of Venezuela will hand over her crown
in the futuristic Dongsheng stadium, which is surrounded by swathes of
empty or unfinished apartment blocks.
Contestants made last minute preparations to their hair and make-up
before the contest started. The smell of perfume permeated the red
carpeted area, where an excited Miss Nicaragua was seen in a red ball
gown, her high-heels making thudding sounds on the carpet.
Besides the traditional swimsuitsand evening gowns, participants were
also scheduledto don outlandish costumes, with some dressed as belly
dancers and one, Miss Fiji, set to appear in an owl get-up.
The beauty queens have been in China rehearsing for nearly a month,
soaking up traditional Mongolian culture by churning yoghurt in a
nomad's yurt and donning local attire to climb a sand dune.
The city, which has a vast town square dedicated to the mighty
Mongolian warrior Genghis Khan, has grown rich over the last decade on
the back of a coal mining boom that has transformed it from a
sandstorm-afflicted backwater into one of the wealthiest placesin
China.
The boom triggered a frenzy ofbuilding in the city, but the local
government has been unable tofill the vast tower blocks that have
sprung up, earning it the title of China's biggest ghost town.
Enthusiastic competitors seemed unfazed, expressing optimism that with
the help of the pageant, the city could leavethat reputation behind
and takeits place alongside other global centres of glitz and glamour.
"Ordos could be the next Dubai,"said Marielle Wilkie, representing the
Caribbean nation of Barbados.
Albanian contestant Floriana Garo chimed in with her own bold prediction.
"In ten years, this city will be booming," she said.
Architecture in Ordos — where the city museum is shaped like an
undulating blob — is "world class", added Markysa O'Loughlin,
representing St. Kittsand Nevis, also in the Caribbean.
Contestants vying for this year's title include a Kazakh doctor and a
Peruvian medical student, but the bookmakers are tipping Miss Mexico,
20-year-old Mariana Reynoso, for the crown.
Other leading contenders are thought to be Miss China and Miss Nepal.
While the popularity of the contest, first held in 1951, has waned in
the West, continued interest in Asian countries ensures that the final
rakes in a huge global television audience.
Sweden's Kiki Hakansson was the first Miss World, while Oscar-winning
US actress Halle Berry was a finalist in 1986 and Bollywood star
Aishwarya Rai took the crown in 1994.
Venezuela has produced the most Miss Worlds, with six winners, while
India and Britain claim five titles each.
China has already hosted the competition five times, most recently in
2010 on the tropical southern island of Hainan.
In 2002, the pageant was moved from Nigeria to Britain after more than
200 people died in clashes sparked when a newspaper suggested the
Prophet Mohammed would havechosen a wife from among the contestants
had he been alive.