A total of 116 contestants are scheduled to wear their best evening gowns and swimwear for the evening contest, which is annually watched approximately by a billion people around the
globe.

The event will take place on the Inner Mongolia, this year, which makes an unlikely setting for the world’s biggest beauty show.

Reigning Miss World Ivian Sarcos of Venezuela will hand over her crown in the Ordos stadium.

The beauty queens have been rehearsing in China for nearly a month, soaking up traditional
Mongolian culture by churning yoghurt in a nomad’s yurt and donning local dress to climb a
sand dune.

Contestants competing 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.

Other leading contenders include Miss China and Miss Nepal.

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, while India and Britain claim
five titles each.

China has already hosted the competition five times, most recently in 2010 on the tropical
southern island of Hainan.