Originally posted by Tuatau:
Westerners may have a different yardstick when it comes to
assessing the beauty of Oriental ladies.
Another typical example would be the famous Chinese supermodel Lu
Yan.
http://www.china.org.cn/english/NM-e/40994.htm
[b]Model Parries Slings and Arrows
Some Chinese fashion watchers are dumbfounded
by the rise
of Lu Yan as Europe's most sought-after Asian model. Her
looks,
they say, are common. But the brash 20-year-old Jiangxi
Province
native, who works the runways of Paris and has graced the
cover
of Elle, pays scant attention to her detractors.
Lu Yan is a fashion model. All fashion models possess beauty.
Therefore, Lu Yan is a beauty.
But perhaps not in the eyes of some of her fellow countrymen,
whose highly selective definition of Chinese beauty is often at
odds
with the rest of the fashion world...
(To avoid giving anyone nightmares, her picture shall not be posted
here.) 
[/b]
http://www.china.org.cn/english/NM-e/40994.htm
"Well, for starters, those who feel her looks run counter to
Chinese perceptions of beauty - and that she's had incredible
success with it. The Chinese, it seems, take a rather condescending
view of Western notions of Asian beauty. Lu says that "this may
because what Westerners consider a Chinese beauty is based on
classical images like those found in traditional Chinese
paintings."
What comes closer to the truth, however, is that the Chinese like
to anoint their own beauties, and take umbrage at the West's
"monopoly" on what constitutes Asian attractiveness."
thanks Tuatau for a very thought-provoking article. serves to
confirm my suspicions that foreigners' appreciation of chinese
culture is still based on classical literature and paintings from
the mystical far east
