The 53rd Miss World Competition is to be held in the city of Sanya
in China's southernmost Hainan Province, from November 9 to
December 6 as scheduled, the first time China will have held the
pageant.
Contenders from 117 countries and regions would converged on Sanya
and the pageant would be televised live to those countries and
regions, said sources with the Sanya municipal government on
Sunday.
The cultural exhibition center, named the Crown of Beauty, is
designed and built especially for this contest. Located by the
scenic tropical Sanya river, the center covers a total area of
90,000 square meters with an investment of 120 million yuan (about
US$14.5 million).
The first-phase project includes building a main building, a
square, a parking lot, a cruise ship wharf and auxiliary service
facilities, covering a construction area of 40,000 square
meters.
The Miss World Competition, which was launched in 1951 in London as
part of the New Year celebrations in Britain at the sponsorship of
Eric Morley, who died in the year 2000. And his widow Julia Morley
succeeded him and is now executive chairperson of the competition's
organizing agency.
(Xinhua News Agency June 16, 2003)