Miss Chinese International Pageant

Logo of Miss Chinese International Pageant 2007 with the new Chinese title of the pageant.

Screenshot depicting logo of Miss Chinese International Pageant 2006. The same logo has been in use since the beginning in 1988.

Miss Chinese International Pageant (Chinese: before 2007: 國際華裔小姐競選, 2007 onwards: 國際中華小姐競選) or MCI (Chinese: 華姐) for short, is an annual international beauty pageant, organized and broadcast by TVB, a leading network television station in Hong Kong.

Composition

At its inception in 1988, delegates were either winners or runners-up of regional Chinese beauty pageants around the world excluding the country of China, as this is a pageant for Chinese delegates from overseas. All delegates at the time of the pageant are between the ages at least of 17 and 25, with the upper age limit expanded to 27 in 2012. The delegates must be of at least partial Chinese descent.

Starting in 2007, the pageant allowed mainland Chinese participants, and the Chinese name of the pageant changed from 國際華裔小姐競選, which literally translated to "Miss International of Chinese Descent Pageant" to 國際中華小姐競選 to reflect the change, matching the English pageant title of Miss Chinese International Pageant. In 2009, a record number of 11 delegates came from Mainland China, more than one-third of the total contestant count. The number of China delegates has since decreased, with the 2013 pageant having only one Mainland Chinese delegate, representing Foshan.

Participating regions

Pageant timeframe

The first two pageants (1988 & 1989) were held in the fourth quarter of the calendar year. However, in 1990, TVB decided to shift the pageant date to the beginning of the year to coincide with Lunar New Year. But since Miss Chinese International Pageant 1989 was not held until mid-December, the 3rd Miss Chinese International Pageant came early 1991 with no pageant being held in 1990. Since then, the pageant was held late January or early February of every year.

In 2010, the pageant reverted to being held in November, delaying the 22nd Miss Chinese International Pageant by almost 10 months. Therefore, Christine Kuo, Miss Chinese International 2009 is the longest serving titleholder, having served 658 days from January 17, 2009 to November 5, 2010. The delay of the pageant meant that several regional titleholders from 2009 were not able to enter Miss Chinese International Pageant 2010 as they have already crowned their successors by November 2010, including Miss Hong Kong 2009 Sandy Lau. Miss Hong Kong Pageant 2010 was held in August and Lau's successor, Toby Chan, represented Hong Kong in Miss Chinese International 2010 instead.

One year later, TVB announced that the 23rd Miss Chinese International Pageant would be delayed until January 15, 2012, meaning that there would be no pageant held in 2011.^[1] This is the first time since 1990 a pageant would not be held during a calendar year. As with the year before, several regional titleholders from 2010 would not be able to enter Miss Chinese International Pageant 2012 as they have already crowned their successors by the end of 2011. However, the organizers allowed 2010 regional titleholders from Auckland, Kuala Lumpur, Melbourne, Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver to compete with their 2011 counterparts in Miss Chinese International 2012, marking a first in the pageant's history where two representatives of the same region compete together.

Results

Delegates representing Canadian cities have won 11 of the 27 iterations of the competition; with Vancouver winning seven titles (2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2010, 2013, 2016), Toronto three times (1992, 1997 and 2009) and Montreal once (1993).

Delegates from pageant organizer Hong Kong have won thrice, but have recorded the most top three finishes with 17.

Major award winners

Year	Date	Winner	1st Runner-Up	2nd Runner-Up	Miss Friendship
1988	Oct 2, 1988	Michele Monique Reis Hong Kong	Tammy Lee Seattle,  USA	Sharon Kwok San Francisco,  USA	Tanya Lim Calgary,  Canada
1989	Dec 17, 1989	Kit Wong Sydney,  Australia	Monica Chan Hong Kong	Guilhermina Madeira da Silva Pedruco Macau	No award given
1990	Postponed to February, 1991
1991	Feb 10, 1991	Yen-Thean Leng  Singapore	Anita Yuen Hong Kong	Hazel Cheung Montreal,  Canada	Deanna Leung Seattle,  USA
1992	Jan 26, 1992	Rosemary Chan Toronto,  Canada	Amy Kwok Hong Kong	Valerie Lee San Francisco,  United States	Sherine Tsang Auckland,  New Zealand
1993	Jan 10, 1993	Christy Chung Montreal,  Canada	Emily Lo Hong Kong	Elaine Barbara Der Vancouver,  Canada	Nien-Chien Chang Seattle,  USA
1994	Jan 23, 1994	Saesim Pornapa Sui Bangkok,  Thailand	Diane Wang New York City,  USA	I-Man Chao Seattle,  USA	Rebecca Lok-Sze Miu Manila,  Philippines
1995	Jan 22, 1995	Hsiang-Ling Ku Taipei,  Chinese Taipei	Darabhorn Bhakdeeratna Bangkok,  Thailand	Edna Wei Los Angeles,  USA	Gloria Hui Vancouver,  Canada
1996	Jan 27, 1996	Siew-Kee Cheng  Singapore	Melissa Ng San Francisco,  USA	Amy Chung (Dethroned)[a] New York City,  USA	Winnie Yeung Hong Kong
1997	Jan 26, 1997	Monica Lo Toronto,  Canada	San San Lee Hong Kong	Kulzatri Konjanawan Bangkok,  Thailand	Wendy Giam Kuala Lumpur,  Malaysia
1998	Jan 25, 1998	Louisa Luk San Francisco,  USA	Lisa Vongthong Bangkok,  Thailand	Kalyane Tea Montreal,  Canada	May Ling Lai Chicago,  USA
1999	Feb 14, 1999	Michelle Ye New York City,  USA	Janet Huang Los Angeles,  USA	Anne Heung  Hong Kong	Mabel Wong Calgary,  Canada
2000	Feb 6, 2000	Sonija Kwok  Hong Kong	Tiffany Yang Los Angeles,  USA	Crystal Pan Vancouver,  Canada	Jessie Cheng Melbourne,  Australia
2001	Jan 20, 2001	Bernice Liu Vancouver,  Canada	Jennifer Huang Montreal,  Canada	Vivian Lau  Hong Kong	Hsing-Ting Chiang Taipei,  Chinese Taipei
2002	Jan 27, 2002	Shirley Zhou Vancouver,  Canada	Christie Bartram Toronto,  Canada	Angela Foo Kuala Lumpur,  Malaysia	Marjorie Wu Honolulu,  USA
2003	Jan 25, 2003	Rachel Tan Kuala Lumpur,  Malaysia	Tiffany Lam  Hong Kong	Diana Wu Toronto,  Canada	Lola Gong Amsterdam,  Netherlands
2004	Jan 17, 2004	Linda Chung Vancouver,  Canada	Mandy Cho  Hong Kong	Carlene Aguilar Manila,  Philippines	Mandy Cho  Hong Kong
2005	Jan 29, 2005	Leanne Li Vancouver,  Canada	Fala Chen New York City,  USA	Jessica Young Melbourne,  Australia	Jolene Chin Kuala Lumpur,  Malaysia
2006	Jan 21, 2006	Ina Lu Johannesburg,  South Africa	Ginney Kanchanawat Bangkok,  Thailand	Annabelle Kong Kuala Lumpur,  Malaysia	Annabelle Kong Kuala Lumpur,  Malaysia
2007	Jan 20, 2007	Sarah Song Sydney,  Australia	Ivy Lu Johannesburg,  South Africa	Sherry Chen Toronto,  Canada	Parichat Wisuthiphatt Bangkok,  Thailand
2008	Jan 26, 2008	Océane Zhu Paris,  France	Kayi Cheung  Hong Kong	Aileen Xu Chongqing,  China	Delaine Lee Calgary,  Canada
2009	Jan 17, 2009	Christine Kuo Toronto,  Canada	Skye Chan  Hong Kong	Cici Chen Vancouver,  Canada	Skye Chan  Hong Kong
2010	Nov 5, 2010	Eliza Sam Vancouver,  Canada	Belle Theng Kuala Lumpur,  Malaysia	Candy Chang Toronto,  Canada	Lu Bai Foshan,  China
2011	Postponed to January, 2012
2012	Jan 15, 2012	Kelly Cheung Chicago,  USA	Cheryl Wee Singapore,  Singapore	Lenna Lim Kuala Lumpur,  Malaysia	Ashton Hong Toronto,  Canada
2013	Feb 24, 2013	Gloria Tang Vancouver,  Canada	Denise Tan Kuala Lumpur,  Malaysia	Carat Cheung  Hong Kong	Lauren Weinberger Los Angeles,  USA
2014	Jan 26, 2014	Grace Chan  Hong Kong	Cindy Zhong Vancouver,  Canada	Lucia Lorigiano Montreal,  Canada	Mandi Cheung  Singapore
2015	Jan 25, 2015	Mandy Chai Sydney,  Australia	Veronica Shiu  Hong Kong	Catherine Hui New York City,  United States	Christina Jin Auckland,  New Zealand
2016	Jan 23, 2016	Jennifer Coosemans Vancouver,  Canada	Mary Chen New York City,  United States	Tiana Luan Sydney,  Australia	Alice Wong Los Angeles,  United States
2017	Jan 15, 2017	Stitch Yu New York City,  United States	Serene Lim Kuala Lumpur,  Malaysia	Crystal Fung  Hong Kong	Adelaide Lee Johannesburg,  South Africa

Notes

• a ^ In 1999, Amy Chung was stripped of her title of Miss Chinese International 1996 Second Runner-Up and had her artiste contract with TVB terminated when it was discovered that she had an outstanding warrant for her arrest in USA as she left the country to enter the pageant while on probation stemming from a credit card fraud conviction. Chung had also lied about her academic credentials, claiming to have a Masters Degree from Harvard University when she only has taken a course from Harvard Extension School.^[2] The title has yet to be filled since.

Gallery of Winners

• 
  Miss Chinese International 1999
  Michelle Ye, New York City, USA
• 
  Miss Chinese International 2000
  Sonija Kwok, Hong Kong
• 
  Miss Chinese International 2001
  Bernice Liu, Vancouver, Canada
• 
  Miss Chinese International 2004
  Linda Chung, Vancouver, Canada
• 
  Miss Chinese International 2008
  Océane Zhu, Paris, France
• 
  Miss Chinese International 2009
  Christine Kuo, Toronto, Canada
• 
  Miss Chinese International 2010
  Eliza Sam, Vancouver, Canada

Countries

Country	Titles	Year(s)
USA	8	1954, 1956, 1960, 1967, 1980, 1995, 1997, 2012

See also

• List of beauty contests

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Miss Chinese International Pageant.

• Miss Chinese International Pageant 2017 Official Page