A news report that Chinese entrants in the Miss Earth beauty contest served as restaurant hostesses on the sidelines of the contest is being investigated by police in the Jiangsu provincial capital of Nanjing.

Officers said they would investigate who'd arranged the restaurant work and whether the beauty candidates offered sex services, the Modern Express newspaper reported yesterday.

Thirty contestants for the east China final of the beauty pageant reportedly entertained patrons at the Shijiyuan restaurant and hotel for dinner and a chat in VIP rooms on Wednesday. Shijiyuan set the minimum price for each diner in a VIP room at 1,500 yuan (US$188), the news report said.

The 30 beauty candidates stood in the lobby as customers selected their dining partners. In less than 30 minutes, all orders were placed, the Nanjing-based newspaper reported. Six women are said to have served a table of seven property company executives dinner in a VIP room. The seven reportedly paid over 20,000 yuan (US$2,500) for dinner.

A 17-year-old contestant from Jiangsu said shortly before the dinner that an official of the contest's east China organizing committee had told the participants to dress up. The official then led them to the restaurant lobby.

A restaurant executive told the newspaper that the organizing committee agreed some of the dinner money would cover the cost of rooms for the candidates and the committee. Diners reportedly paid tips directly to the restaurant.

They were allowed to take pictures with beauty contestants but no body contact was allowed according to a deal between Shijiyuan and the organizers, the report said. One beauty contestant withdrew from the pageant after the dinner.

Zhang Bei, vice director of the organizing committee, reportedly said the candidates "overreacted" as two others withdrew on Friday.

(Shanghai Daily August 21, 2006)