Miss World contest is taking shape on edge of the desert

More than 100 beauty queens from around the globe have descended on the northern Chinese mining city of Ordos on the edge of the Gobi desert before the Miss World final tonight.

Built on the arid and sparsely-populated steppes of Inner Mongolia and around 700 kilometres from the nearest beach, Ordos makes an unlikely setting for the world ’s biggest beauty pageant.

But that will not stop the 116 contestants – the highest number ever – from donning their finest evening gowns and swimwear tonight for the contest.

Ordos has grown rich over the last decade on the back of a coal mining boom that has transformed it from a sandstorm-afflicted backwater into one of China’s wealthiest cities.

The boom triggered a frenzy of building in the city, but the local government has been unable to fill the vast tower blocks that have sprung up, earning it the title of China’s biggest ghost town.

The reigning Miss World, Ivian Sarcos of Venezuela, will hand over her crown in the futuristic Ordos stadium, which sits alongside a vast town square dedicated to legendary Mongolian warrior Genghis Khan.

The beauty queens have been in China rehearsing for nearly a month, soaking up traditional Mongolian culture by churning yoghurt in a nomadic yurt dwelling and donning local dress to mount a sand dune, according to the Miss World website.

Malta is being represented by 21-year-old Daniela Darmanin of Mġarr Malta.

Contestants vying for this year’s title include a Kazakh doctor and a Peruvian medical student, but the bookmakers are tipping Miss Mexico, 20-year-old Mariana Reynoso, for the crown.

“There’s a lot of good feeling surrounding the Mexican contestant,” said Tony Kenny, spokesman for bookmaker William Hill, which is offering odds of 2/1 on Ms Reynoso’s potential.

Other favourites include Miss China and Miss Nepal, with other countries lagging so far behind as to be “more or less write-offs”, according to Alex Donohue of rival bookmaker Ladbrokes.

While the popularity of the contest, first held in 1951, has waned in the West, continued interest in Asian countries ensures that the final rakes in a global television audience of more than a billion eager viewers.

Sweden’s Kiki Hakansson was the first Miss World, while Oscar-winning US actress Halle Berry was a finalist in 1986 and Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai took the crown in 1994.

Venezuela has produced the most Miss Worlds, with six winners of the title.