Miss Chinatown Houston was founded by the Chinese American Citizens Alliance Houston chapter with the first pageant being held in 1971 in La Porte, Texas.[1] Miss Chinatown Houston is part of the greater Miss Chinatown USA pageants, the first of which was held in San Francsico, where the first Chinatown was established.[2]
History
As the years went on, the program became progressively more elaborate and well known throughout the Houston community. In 1971 the program included 9 participants for the next year's pageant, raffles, CACA Youth Club entertainment, movies, and dancing. It was also paired with a picnic at Sylvan beach park.[3] By 2000, there was dinner, a 4 part pagent competition, a fashion show, and elaborate music festivities. [4] While the 1971 program featured a beauty pagent segment, the 2016 pagent's segment included 7 contestants and was expanded to a "form and fitness segment" a "talent segment", a "formal gown segment" and a "personality and poise segment".[5] An endorsement from the mayor began in 1983.[6]
Venues
The first Miss Chinatown Houston was held in Sylvan Beach, Le Porte, Texas.[1] It was then subsequently held at the Rice Hotel, Mariott Motor Hotel, Astroworld Grand Ballroom, the Shamrock Hilton Hotel, Adam's Mark Hotel, Westin Galleria Hotel, Double Tree Hotel, JW Marriott Hotel, Omni hotels, Crown Plaza Reliant Park, and the Royal Sonesta Hotel.
Pageant Rules and Eligibility
In order to participate in the pageant, participants must first be selected from the application process. In the application, there are wardrobe requirements (such as a swimsuit and cheongsam) as well as a time commitment requirement and talent requirement.[7] Participants must be of Chinese ancestry, a US citizen or permanent resident in Houston, single female (no divorcees or parents), at least 17, no criminal record, and agree to release photos and videos of themselves to publicity.[8]
List of Miss Chinatown Houston Winners and Venues
| Year | Name | Location | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Linda Shen | Sylvan Beach Pavilion |  1971 Pagent Program |
| 1972 | Trudy Lin O. Young | Sylvan Beach Pavilion |  1972 Pagent Program |
| 1973 | Sandra Wong | Rice Hotel |  1973 Pagent Program from the Rice University Woodson Research Center, Box MS 606 |
| 1974 | Shirely Q. Tom | Mariott Motor Hotel |  1974 Pagent Program from the Rice Woodson Research Center, Box MS 606 |
| 1975 | Jeannie Fung | Astroworld Hotel Grand Ballroom |  1975 Pagent Program from the Rice Woodson Research Center, Box MS 606 |
| 1976 | Linda Sue K.E. Chun | Astroworld Hotel Grand Ballroom |  1976 Pagent Program from the Rice Woodson Research Center, Box MS 606 |
| 1979 | Ellen Sue Lien Thai | Marriott Hotel Astrodome |  1979 Pagent Program from the Rice Woodson Research Center, Box MS 606 |
| 1980 | Sandy Lee | Marriott Hotel Astrodome | |
| 1981 | Simone Gee | Shamrock Hilton Hotel |  1981 Pagent Program from the Rice Woodson Research Center, Box MS 606 |
| 1982 | Virginia Chang | Shamrock Hilton Hotel |  1982 Pagent Program from the Rice Woodson Research Center, Box MS 606 |
| 1983 | Marilyn Hsu | Shamrock Hilton Hotel |  1983 Pagent Program from the Rice Woodson Research Center, Box MS 606 |
| 1984 | Christina Fang | Shamrock Hilton Hotel |  1984 Pagent Program from the Rice Woodson Research Center, Box MS 606 |
| 1985 | Cami Lee Chan | Adam's Mark Hotel |  1985 Pagent Program from the Rice Woodson Research Center, Box MS 606 |
| 1986 | Marcelle Wong | Adam's Mark Hotel |  1974 Pagent Program from the Rice Woodson Research Center, Box MS 606 |
| 1987 | Eva Lue | Adam's Mark Hotel |  1987 Pagent Program from the Rice Woodson Research Center, Box MS 606 |
| 1988 | Chemien Wu | Adam's Mark Hotel |  1988 Pagent Program from the Rice Woodson Research Center, Box MS 606 |
| 1989 | Evelyn Ding | Westin Galleria Hotel |  1989 Pagent Program from the Rice Woodson Research Center, Box MS 606 |
| 1990 | Theresa Young | Double Tree Hotel-Post Oak |  1990 Pagent Program from the Rice Woodson Research Center, Box MS 606 |
| 1991 | Sherry Liu | J.W Marriot Hotel-Westheimer |  1991 Pagent Program from the Rice Woodson Research Center, Box MS 606 |
| 1992 | Melissa Yeh | J.W Marriot Hotel-Westheimer |  1992 Pagent Program from the Rice Woodson Research Center, Box MS 606 |
| 1993 | Maryann Lee Parker | J.W Marriot Hotel-Westheimer |  1993 Pagent Program from the Rice Woodson Research Center, Box MS 606 |
| 1994 | Tammy Gee | ||
| 1995 | Doris Chao | J.W Marriot Hotel-Galleria |  1995 Pagent Program from the Rice Woodson Research Center, Box MS 606 |
| 1996 | Yvonne Hsu | J.W Marriot Hotel-Exhibition Center-Galleria |  1996 Pagent Program from the Rice Woodson Research Center, Box MS 606 |
| 1997 | Mo-Lin Liu | J.W Marriot Hotel-Exhibition Center-Galleria |  1997 Pagent Program from the Rice Woodson Research Center, Box MS 606 |
| 1998 | Francine Di | J.W Marriot Hotel-Exhibition Center-Galleria |  1998 Pagent Program from the Rice Woodson Research Center, Box MS 606 |
| 1999 | Ruby Sheng | J.W Marriot Hotel-Exhibition Center-Grand Ballroom |  1999 Pagent Program from the Rice Woodson Research Center, Box MS 606 |
| 2000 | Erin Wu | J.W Marriot Hotel-Exhibition Center-Galleria |  2000 Pagent Program from the Rice Woodson Research Center, Box MS 606 |
| 2001 | Amy Chang | J.W Marriot Hotel-Exhibition Center-Galleria | |
| 2002 | Le Zhang | J.W Marriot Hotel-Exhibition Center-Galleria |  2002 Pagent Program from the Rice Woodson Research Center, Box MS 606 |
| 2003 | Rina Tzeng | ||
| 2004 | Karen Wong | J.W Marriot Hotel-Exhibition Center-Galleria |  2004 Pagent Program from the Rice Woodson Research Center, Box MS 606 |
| 2005 | Jia Hu | J.W Marriot Hotel-Exhibition Center-Galleria | |
| 2006 | Connie Chen | J.W Marriot Hotel-Exhibition Center-Galleria |  2006 Pagent Program from the Rice Woodson Research Center, Box MS 606 |
| 2007 | Francine Cheng | Omni Hotels |  2007 Pagent Program from the Rice Woodson Research Center, Box MS 606 |
| 2008 | Cindy Wu | Crown Plaza Reliant Park |  2008 Pagent Program from the Rice Woodson Research Center, Box MS 606 |
| 2009 | Angela Wang | JW Marriott Hotel Galleria-Liberty Hall |  2009 Pagent Program from the Rice Woodson Research Center, Box MS 606 |
| 2010 | Joy Le | JW Marriott Hotel Galleria-Liberty Hall |  2010 Pagent Program from the Rice Woodson Research Center, Box MS 606 |
| 2011 | Steffi Hu | JW Marriott Hotel Galleria-Liberty Hall |  2011 Pagent Program from the Rice Woodson Research Center, Box MS 606 |
| 2012 | Anna Zhang | JW Marriott Hotel Galleria-Liberty Hall |  2012 Pagent Program from the Rice Woodson Research Center, Box MS 606 |
| 2013 | Karen Li | JW Marriott Hotel Galleria-Liberty Hall |  2013 Pagent Program from the Rice Woodson Research Center, Box MS 606 |
| 2014 | Rose Li | JW Marriott Hotel Galleria-Liberty Hall |  2014 Pagent Program from the Rice Woodson Research Center, Box MS 606 |
| 2015 | Rachel Lee |  2015 Pagent Program from the Rice Woodson Research Center, Box MS 606 | |
| 2016 | Karen Yang | Royal Sonesta Hotel |  2016 Pagent Program from the Rice Woodson Research Center, Box MS 606 |
| 2017 | Janet Chen | Royal Sonesta Hotel |  2017 Pagent Program from the Rice Woodson Research Center, Box MS 606 |
| 2018 | Karen Yen | ||
| 2019 | Lauren Yang | ||
| 2020 | |||
| 2021 | |||
| 2022 | Christine Yuan | ||
| 2023 | Grace Zhang | Sonesta Hotel |
References
- 1 2 "About us – Miss Chinatown Houston". Retrieved 2023-11-07.
- ↑ "Miss Chinatown USA", Wikipedia, 2023-10-10, retrieved 2023-11-07
- ↑ "CACA Houston Lodge Annual City Wide Picnic Program".
- ↑ "Houston Lodge Chinese American Citizens Alliance 30th Annual Miss Chinatown Houston Pageant Program". 2000.
- ↑ ""Houston Lodge CHinese American Citizens Alliance 46th Annual Miss Chinatown Houston Scholarship Pageant 2016"".
- ↑ "Houston Lodge Chinese American Citizens Alliance Miss Chiantown Houston Pageant 1984".
- ↑ "Scholarship Application Form – Miss Chinatown Houston". Retrieved 2023-11-14.
- ↑ "Qualifications and Rules". Miss Chinatown Houston. Retrieved 2023-11-14.