The "Olympics of Beauty," otherwise known as the Miss International Beauty Pageant (国际小姐世界大会) will be held in Chengdu next Saturday.

The 66 contestants, each representing a different country, arrived yesterday afternoon, some with bare legs and others in skimpy dresses and sandals. Given that the temperature dropped to the lowest it's been in a decade for this time of year recently, we can't believe our eyes. Apparently neither could spectators who gathered around to watch the arrivals.

The women were paraded to the hotel, where they were all presented with--what else?--stuffed panda toys and will reportedly stay for the next 10 days, touring the city, visiting the pandas, and trying hot pot.

Representing China is Chengdunese Wang Qian (王芊), who was crowned the 49th Miss International - China last Wednesday. Wang, 19, currently studies foreign languages at the Southwest Jiaotong University.

The pageant originated in Long Beach, California, in the 1960s but has been held in Japan since 1968. From the pageant's official website



This year marks the 49th event for the pageant.

The final round will be held November 28 at the Sichuan International Tennis Center (四川国际网球中心). Sichuan News has a comprehensive schedule of the week of events (Chinese only) as well as an absurdly detailed report on the contestants' arrival (apparently Miss Canada was ecstatic about her panda toy).

For a complete list of contestant names, go here, but if you want to see their photos, you'll have to go here. And if you happen to be that interested and/or like to see Chinese portraits from the late '80s and early '90s, you can see photos of the Chinese runner-ups in their youth here (scroll to the bottom).

By Jessie Levene

This weekend, Chengdu was supposed to witness one of the most famous rivalries in tennis history: Bjorn Borg vs. John McEnroe, who played at the Sichuan International Tennis Centre on Saturday as part of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Champions Tour.

But any hopes of seeing quality sport were unfortunately misguided, as this most anticipated of the weekend's matches proved. Though the ATP official website claims to bring "nostalgic, competitive and entertaining tournaments" to cities around the world, the reality was just a big, fat disappointment.

First impressions: The 6,700-capacity stadium was only a (small) fraction full, and as the players came out onto the court, the advanced ages of the two players became apparent: Borg, friskily patting the bottom of the panda mascot, looked, with his flowing grey hair, like an aging lothario; McEnroe, limping slightly, just looked old. The latter had, it was rumored, been living up to his "Superbrat" reputation, apparently shouting expletives at student volunteers and even firing one after catching him smoking in the locker room.

Once the tennis itself started, McEnroe quickly looked the poorer of the two. The American repeatedly grimaced and shook his head, and sure enough, Borg broke his serve in the very first game. While Borg looked sprightly, McEnroe was sweaty; while Borg would promptly walk back on court when time was called, McEnroe stalled. The American let out loud groans before even hitting the ball, grabbed dramatically at his knee, and made little attempt to return shots. It was, in the words of one spectator, like watching a panda climb a tree but less funny. Borg took the first set with ease.

The Swede proceeded to begin the next set exactly as he had the first, breaking McEnroe's serve in the very first game. The second half of the match saw some particularly cringe-worthy moments. McEnroe goofed around, playing a parody of himself: shouting, throwing down his racket, contesting line-calls and the like. Though the crowd enjoyed the physical comedy and cheered McEnroe on as he pulled himself onto the scoreboard in the third game of the second set, nonetheless it was obvious he making little effort, and Borg strolled to a straight sets victory. Final score: 6-4, 6-4: a pathetic throwback to a once great rivalry.