Miss Chinese International 2005 will be held on January 29. In addition to the awards for top three and the Miss Friendship, this year there will be a new award entitled "Miss Cosmopolitan Beauty", which will be voted by audience in Hong Kong and China.

A special promotional event was held on Saturday in Hong Kong, to mark the beginning of voting and showcasing one of the prizes for the winner, a jade and pure gold scepter worth nearly 240,000 US dollars.

Miss Hong Kong, Kate Tsui, did not disappoint her fans by winning the vote for "Audience's Favorite Contestant" at the event, and her reward was the chance to be the first to hold and parade with the winner's scepter.

The hot favorite to win the contest Fala Chen from New York indicated that she was not disappointed that Kate had won yesterday because there is still another week for her to prepare. 

(AsianFanastic)

scepter: a staff held by a sovereign as an emblem of authority（權杖，王杖）