Miss Peru takes Miss World crown in China pageant

Miss Peru Maria Julia Mantilla Garcia is crowned Miss World 2004 in Sanya on China's tropical island of Hainan. Picture / Reuters

BEIJING - Twenty-year-old Miss Peru has been crowned Miss World in a southern Chinese resort town, as China looks to become the regular host of an event that would have once been deemed heretical by its Communist leaders.

Maria Julia Mantilla Garcia, dressed in a shimmering blue backless dress, burst into tears at the announcement, after winning the hearts of the audience saying the thing she would miss most about the competition was its host town, Sanya.

"I don't speak very good English. But the smiles of the people transcend language," she said through an interpreter.

Viewers from around the world called in to vote for contestants, choosing Garcia over runner-up Miss Dominican Republic, Claudia Julissa Cruz Rodriguez. The second runner-up was Miss USA, Nancy Randall.

In 2002 the contest moved to Britain from Nigeria, where controversy over the pageant sparked Muslim-Christian riots, but organizers appear to be enjoying the quiet atmosphere in China, where social unrest is quickly quelled.

This was the second year Miss World was held in Sanya, on the semi-tropical island of Hainan, and organizers have applied to hold the event at the same venue next year, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

Far from clinging to Mao-era norms, when makeup and high fashion were considered counter-revolutionary, the southern city has embraced the pageant as a way to boost its tourism potential.

Miss China, 20-year-old accountancy student Jin Yang, said it was her dream to win on home soil, but she was eliminated after the final 15.

Residents embraced the event, with one 80-year-old woman watching the rehearsal on Friday with her daughter-in-law.

"It is a great pleasure to watch all these beauties coming from the world to the southernmost place of China," she was quoted as saying on the China News web site.

The victorious Miss Peru is studying to be a high school teacher and enjoys painting, film and dance.

New Zealand's entrant was Amber Peebles from Auckland.

- REUTERS