Guanyin

28 June 2010 - More than 300 young beautiful Chinese girls have been competing since April for three places as image representatives of Guanyin, an East Asian Buddhist figure known for her compassion. Literally 'Guanyin' means 'observing the sounds', which means that Guanyin will always observe all sounds from the world and listen to requests from her worshippers. She is usually depicted wearing a white flowing robe and wearing necklaces of royalty. In the right hand there may be a water jar containing pure water, and in the left she holds a willow branch. The legend of Guanyin, known as the Bodhisattva, has led Sichuan, Henan and Xinjiang provinces to spend billions of yuan developing tourism programmes, with each province claiming to be her home province. It will be interesting to follow who will finally be the winner of the image competition, because - if I am well informed - it was not clear if Guanyin was male or female.