Marie Claire (Australia), September 2005

aking a deep breath, Zhang Di pushes open the door to the conference room high in the towering offices of Shanghai Tabloid the New Times. At first, she can see little beyond the building glare of the camera crews' lights, but as her eyes adjust, she becomes aware of the judges sitting behind a long desk. Her stomach lurches as she realizes that she recognizes some of them.
              The Guy on the left is a famous Chinese film director; next to him is his glamorous movie-star wife, Miss Wu; while at the end of the table sits the flamboyant TV plastic surgeon Dr Zhang Wei, in his trademark Hawaiian shirt.
              Zhang Di hadn't expected to meet such high-profile people, but then, she didn't really know what to anticipate today. This is the first time she's entered a beauty contest, so it's all a new experience.
              As she stands there, sweating, in the airless room, a production assistant asks her to remove her glasses so the panel can inspect her features more closely, Zhang Di feels painfully conscious of her cheap jeans and shapeless sweater, and knows that, without make-up, her every blemish is exposed. She can hear the judges whispering about her thick eyebrows and broad, flat nose.
              "Oh yes, this one really looks like a peasant," one of the judges chuckles. "She looks like she should be scrubbing floors."
              As the panel members laugh, Zhang Di feels a pang of sadness but pushes it aside. She blinks as doctors prod her skin, count the pimples and pockmarks on her face, and measure the width of her nose.
              "Do you have a boyfriend?" quizzes Dr Zhang Wei. She shakes her head.
              "In the past?" he persists.
              "No, never," replies the 26-year-old, her cheeks burning. The luminous Miss Wu smiles at her, pityingly. It's a relief to escape to the dressing room, but it isn't long before she and the other 50 contestants are called back. Then, Zhang Di hears the words she had hardly dared to imagine.
              "The winner is Zhang Di! You are crowned The Ugliest Girl in Shanghai!"
              As she stands and faces the cameras, her face breaks into a beaming smile. She might be the ugliest girl in Shanghai, but with a first prize of plastic surgery worth 100,000 yuan ($16,000), this ugly duckling is about to be transformed into a beautiful swan..... <continues>
            


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