By Maureen Fan
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, November 21, 2007

BEIJING, Nov. 20 -- Hundreds of young women are needed to serve as hostesses for award ceremonies at next year's Beijing Olympics, but only those who are tall, beautiful and have good figures need apply, planners said Tuesday.

"We have certain requirements for their height, since they have to present the awards to our athletes," said Zhao Dongming, director of the cultural activities department of the Beijing Olympics organizing committee. Candidates should be 5 feet 6 inches to 5 feet 10 inches tall, he said. "That's above average."

They should also be university students between 18 and 25 years old and willing to donate their time, Zhao said. About 380 awards presenters will be needed.

"Of course, the girls should be young and pretty," Zhao said. "And they need to have a strong comprehensive quality. Since medal presenting is hard work, they not only need beautiful faces, but also they need to be strong enough."

Zhao's comments reflect Beijing's obsession with putting on what it considers to be the best possible face for the many thousands of foreigners who will flock here for the Games next August. Speaking about various cultural exhibits that have been planned, including displays of Tibetan and other ethnic minorities' cultures, he said the purpose was "to make the world know China as a friendly and peaceful multinational country which pursues progress and development."

In China, employment ads frequently specify age, height and sometimes even blood type. Labor law bars discrimination based on gender, ethnicity or religion, but enforcement is all but nonexistent.

Zhao said there were no weight requirements for the hostesses, "but we do have requirements for their height and the figure, because we have to make clothes for them, and we have technical guidance for that," he said.

Pressed further, since custom tailoring can fit any figure, Zhao explained: "In fact, it's very simple. If your figure is relatively slim, you don't need to talk about weight. In general, those girls won't be overweight, they won't be too fat."

At Beijing's Changping Vocational School, aspiring flight attendants who hope to be awards presenters practice how to walk in stiletto heels and hold a chopstick between their teeth to perfect the "mandated" eight-tooth smile, the state-run China Daily newspaper reported.

The school has a contract to supply 1,250 student volunteers to the Beijing Tourism Group, which will help the Olympics organizing committee with catering, VIP services and ceremonies, the article said.

Li Ning, founder of the Beijing Institute of Protocol, which is helping to train Olympics employees and volunteers, said it was not a matter of beauty alone.

Just to be pretty is not enough, she said of the candidates. "They should be healthy both physically and psychologically. They should not only match the spirit of the Olympic Games, but also the image of Chinese culture. When they stand there quietly, people can tell that they are from China by their gentleness and grace."