A model to follow

Li Bing

2001 witnessed the debut of Chinese beauty on the international pageant stage. Li Bing, who was then an 18-year-old high school student from Jiangxi province, was crowned as the third runner-up, as well as Asian Beauty Queen, at the 51st Miss World beauty pageant, held in South Africa. The 1.77-meter-tall, part-time model participated in the beauty pageant through the New Silk Road Model Company.

The crowning of Li sparked interest among other Chinese women to show off their beauty on the global stage. It also attracted the attention of pageant organizers to include the mainland as one of its many sub-pageant zones in following years. Unlike many of her successors, Li kept a low profile after the contest, reduced publicity to a minimum and achieved a business management postgraduate degree at Lancaster University.

Zhuo Ling

In 2002, Zhuo Ling, the then 19-year-old model, took part as the first Chinese mainland contestant for Miss Universe. The 1.77-meter-tall Zhejiang province native, a graduate of Shanghai Dance School, was second runner-up in the pageant. Zhuo's showing at Miss Universe is the most successful so far.

Apart from appearing on the runway and in fashion magazines, Zhuo was a spokeswoman in Paris, in 2002, for Shanghai to host the 2010 World Expo.

Guan Qi

Dubbed as the beginning of a new era for beauty pageants, 2003 saw Sanya, Hainan province, become the first Chinese host city for international beauty pageants. Guan Qi from Jilin province came in third place and was awarded the title of Asian Beauty Queen at the 53rd Miss World. Guan is perhaps the best-known beauty queen, as the contest caused quite a scene at the time.

Zhang Zilin

In 2007, again in Sanya, Hainan province, the then 23-year-old Zhang Zilin outshone 105 beauty queens from all over the world and won the Miss World pageant. The former secretary is the first Chinese champion of an international beauty pageant. She is the global spokesperson of L'Oreal.

Yuan Siyi

Yuan Siyi, the then 20-year-old fashion design major from Wuhan, Hubei province, was crowned second runner-up at the 50th Miss International, held in Chengdu, Sichuan province, in 2010. It is the highest position for a mainland Miss International pageant contestant.

Luo Zilin

A fourth runner-up in the 2011 Miss Universe, Shanghai's Luo Zilin has been kept busy partly because of the assistance of Yue-sai Kan, the national director of Miss Universe China since 2011. Luo, who is 1.84 meters tall, took part in the first haute couture show of Christian Dior in China, attended the Bal de La Rose in Monaco and was selected as the spokeswoman for the World Cup to be held in Brazil in 2014.