Miss Universe China 2014 on tour in Sri Lanka:

'Sun, sea and sand - a welcome change'

By Anuradha Kodagoda

It's often a sight of joy seeing jubilant beauty queens in numerous beauty pageants these days and this mind you in a country which has just over twenty million people. What would be the feeling of being shortlisted as the top 15 in a country where the population is over 1360 million? 'Fantabulous' isn't it? We got the rare opportunity to meet the fifteen shortlisted beauties of the Miss Universe China 2014 on their tour in Sri Lanka hosted by Cinnamon Hotels and Resorts in partnership with Sri Lankan Airlines.

After meeting them, the first thing that we were curious to find out was the feeling they experienced of being selected to the top 15 of the Miss Universe China pageant, the 25- year- old Linda Cui said, "It feels absolutely amazing. I can't believe that I have accomplished it. I was thinking who was selected as the top finalists or who had won the beauty pageant titles and this pageants had something special which I have never had before.

However, I still don't feel special, I just accomplished something special"."Why did you want to take part in the Miss Universe China pageant" was our next question. Twenty-three- year old Vivi Tian, a singer who is a graduate of the Sichuan Conservatory of Music, said "I think this pageant represents women's liberty and I wanted to take this chance and stand on the world stage to represent China,"

A model by profession, 23- year- old Lu Meng thinks that every woman in China wants to be represented in this pageant and she was lucky enough to grab the opportunity out of millions of participants. her notion is that it's the best opportunity for her to improve her self-confidence.

"The first thing that I wanted to become was to be a part of this pageant, it's inter-related to many charity organisations and secondly this can raise awareness about women's beauty as well as women's position in the world today," said Anne Zhou (24), graduate of Jiangnan University.

Humbleness is the key word to describe these young contestants. The fifteen finalists who experienced the taste of Sri Lankan hospitality for four days at the Cinnamon Lodge Habarana by taking part in various activities such as the culinary competition, 'Sri Lankan night' where the girls were beautifully draped in saree and treated them with some of Sri Lanka's best local dishes and giving them the opportunity to contribute towards the 'elephant dung recycling' project. Moreover, they experienced the rich history and culture of Sri Lanka by visiting Polonnaruwa and Sigiriya also an exciting wildlife safari at the Minneriya National Park.

"It is an awesome experience to be in a tropical country like Sri Lanka. It is a land of smiles and we felt the warmth and love of the people and everyone treated us so well since we were here," said Yanliang Hu, a graduate of the Beijing Film Academy and a professional model who's a top finalists of the Miss Universe China.

"I love Sri Lanka because the air is fresh and so is the beach and sand. I love the culture here. I see a lot of similarities to ours and there are mismatches as well. Everything here is done at ease and is comfortable. It's a good place to live," said beautiful Katrina Peng (26) who's a graduate of South Ampton University in UK.

"The food is fabulous here, I love it" 22- year- old Jamila, a graduate of Xinjiang Arts University said with a smile.

All the contestants had similar stories to share about their fruitful stay in Sri Lanka and that'll be a good sign in increasing tourist traffic. Chinese are now trending towards selecting popular and fashionable destinations for their holidays and rely on celebrity experiences and endorsements when doing so.

Besides there is a noticeable change that has happened in the Sri Lankan tourism industry, as we saw high percentage of Japanese tourists in Polonnaruwa and Sigiriya and also could witness many tourist guides and vendors who speak Japanese in these areas which is quite a positive sign and a welcome change in the approach to tourism of Sri Lanka.

It is important to conceptualize and host signature events of this nature to enhance its presence in changing the world effectively.

The Miss Universe China tour in Sri Lanka is part of the official agenda of the Miss Universe China and they arrived in Sri Lanka on August 26, 2014 and they will fly back to China after the meeting the first lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa, who brought pride to Sri Lanka at one time as a beauty queen. The Grand Finale of the Miss Universe China crowning pageant is scheduled to be held on September 13 in Shanghai.