For 54 years, the Chinese Communist Party had banned beauty pageants. It considered such contests as decadent and demeaning to women.

But once the ban was lifted in 2002, the country quickly warmed up to such contests. These days, it seems to be madly in love with beauty pageants.

On 1 Dec, the city of Sanya hosted the Miss World contest, with the crown going to Miss China.

Last Saturday, it was Shanghai's turn to host the Miss Bikini International contest. This contest normally does not attract much attention in the world media but it certainly attracted many Chinese eyeballs at the Shanghai International Gymnastics Centre.

The competition was hot, with Miss Brazil favoured to win. But that was not to be.

Venezuela's Lourdes Katherin Marquez was the surprise winner. Miss Czech Republic claimed second place, followed by Miss Ukraine and Miss Greece.

Miss China came in fifth.

Miss Brazil, however, did not return home disappointed. She won a prize for having the best figure in the competition.

On Thursday, the 40 finalists took part in the swimsuit and evening gown competition at a prestigious club in Shanghai.The finalists also paraded in their national costumes.

At the event, a gift donated by Miss Greece was auctioned. It fetched $40,000 ($5,000). She was named Miss Charity.

The founder and owner of the Miss Bikini International Contest, Charlie See, is a 94-year-old Chinese American.

He also owns a dozen other pageants and is known in the industry as the "Godfather of Pageantry".