A competition to find the top ten most beautiful students in Hubei Province—known colloquially as the School Flower or xiaohua (校花)—recently drew criticism for its strict (and creepy) entry requirements, most notably regarding the preferred shape and size of the contestants' breasts. The beauty pageant, organized by the Chinese website Model Net (mtw.cc), opened auditions at colleges and universities in Wuhan on September 5. According to the pageant's organizing committee, starting from the semi-finals onward, contestants' bodies will need to pass strict "beauty measurement" standards. For example, the distance between the contestant's mouth and the eyes can be no longer than 36% of the entire length of the face, while distance between the contestant's breasts must be greater than 20 cm.

On the day of registration, applicants were equal parts shocked and angered by these incredibly invasive requirements: "Can you literally 'measure' the most beautiful student?" quipped one applicant. The generally feeling in the room was that a xiaohua should be equal parts beauty and brains, and not solely the winner of the measuring tape. "If the distance between her breasts is smaller than 20 cm, is she automatically not a xiaohua?"

The organizing committee, in an attempt to defend itself, claimed that these requirements were based on a combination of ancient Chinese beauty standards and modern scholarly research, and that applied together, they would result in the selection of the most beautiful students. For what it's worth, they also said that there would be a "talent and skills" portion in the competition, to ascertain each contestant's intellect.

See also: China's Yu Wenxia Crowned "2012 Miss World"

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Keywords: China school flower beauty pageant criticism China Model Net Wuhan beauty pageant scandal 2012 xiaohua beauty contest in Wuhan 2012 Wuhan flower beauty breast requirement