Wall Street Journal, 17-aug-2011: On a recent weeknight on the Upper East Side, the current Miss China, a beauty who stands 6 feet tall in stockings, was learning how to mingle at a dinner party.
"I am Rosaline, pleased to meet you," the beauty queen said to the bankers and lawyers present, giving an English version of her Chinese name, Luo Zilin.
"Tell them about your dress Rosaline," prompted her host, Yue-Sai Kan.
"It is Calvin Klein, isn't it beautiful?" Miss China announced with a practiced twirl.
The performance was but a small part of Ms. Kan's determined bid to make this Miss China into Miss Universe. Like many champions before her, if she wins, Miss China's greatness will have been forged on—or at least near—New York City's mean streets.
For the past few weeks, Ms. Luo has been living in Ms. Kan's posh Sutton Place townhouse, taking a crash course in Western manners and mores in advance of the pageant, to be held in São Paulo on Sept. 12.
