山西奶牛選美 比基尼女模助陣

For years China has been known for its generous deployment of bikini models to spice up industry conferences and meetings. But news that scantily clad models were recently recruited to enliven the country's first 'dairy cow beauty pageant' is being described some as utterly - or should that be udderly? - ridiculous.

衆所周知，多年來，中國的行業會展和會議都不惜花錢聘請比基尼模特來活躍氣氛。但前不久，全國首屆“奶牛選美大賽”也招募穿着清涼的模特來助興，一些人說這未免太荒唐了。

Designed to promote the dairy industry of Shanyin County in the central Chinese province of Shanxi, the weekend contest pitted more than 200 cows against each other based on looks, milk and pedigree.

爲了推廣山西省山陰縣的牛奶產業，上週末舉行的這場活動推出200多頭奶牛，根據它們的外貌、產奶情況和家族血統來“選美”。

The concept is a strange one even for a country with more than its fair share of mystifying events. But it's the eight bikini models hired for the bovine pageant and made to pose awkwardly next to, and even milk, the cows that has churned the controversy.

中國各種讓人莫名其妙的活動挺多，然而上述做法還是夠另類。引起爭議的是奶牛選美活動聘請的那八名比基尼模特。她們在奶牛旁邊笨拙地擺造型──甚至還給奶牛擠奶。

Photos of the girls - all of them, perhaps understandably, wearing masks - spread around traditional and social media websites on Monday, and even earned an editorial on the website of the Communist Party mouthpiece People's Daily.

這些女孩的照片（所有模特都戴上了面具，這一點或許可以理解）週一傳遍了傳統網站和社交媒體網站，就連人民網也爲此發表了一篇評論文章。

While noting that the popularity of beauty contests has been rising (China's Yu Wenxia won the Miss World pageant over the weekend), the editorial argues that in this case things seem to have gone a bit too far. 'Beautiful girls have far greater ability to attract attention that the milk cow contestants,' it reads. 'How do you think that makes the cows feel?'

文章一方面提到選美比賽日益盛行（中國的於文霞在上週末世界小姐選美大賽中奪冠） ，一方面認爲這次奶牛選美搞得太過火。文章說：“美女的吸引力遠遠大過前來參加‘選美’的奶牛們，不知道那些參加選美的奶牛心裏會怎麼想？”

The editorial also calls attention to one model who said given the natural setting of the dairy farm, posing in a bikini felt 'harmonious.'

文章還提到，一位模特說，置身於牧場的天然環境中，穿着比基尼擺造型也挺“和諧”。

The article allows the girl might simply have been embarrassed and making excuses, but reserves little sympathy for the organizer of the conference, who it sarcastically declares must have a peculiar understanding of what adds excitement to an event.

文章承認，這位模特可能只是覺得不好意思，是在找說辭。但它對活動組織者就毫不留情了，而是帶着諷刺意味地說，組織者對於什麼東西能夠讓活動更精彩肯定有着奇怪的理解。

On Sina Corp.'s popular Weibo microblogging service, most users milked the ample potential to make puns about the contest, but a few were more critical of the proceedings. 'Shanxi's 'cow models' - an inconceivable objectification of women,' wrote one user posting under the screen name Ariel_Meow.

在新浪微博上，多數用戶都在充分發揮這場活動的巨大惡搞潛力。但也有一些人更多地是持批評態度。“Ariel_Meow”在新浪微博上寫道：“山西的‘牛模’，不可思議地物化女性。”

Organizers of some Chinese promotional events have recently tried to move away from reliance on bikini girls - in one case replacing them with cross-dressing men. But given the success Shanyin had in drawing attention to its dairy industry over the weekend, China likely hasn't seen the last of the cow belles.

最近中國一些推廣活動的主辦方也曾嘗試減少對比基尼女孩的依賴。有一場活動就沒有安排比基尼女孩，而是用穿着女裝的男模取代。但考慮到山陰縣在上週末成功地吸引了人們對其牛奶產業的關注，這可能不會是中國最後一批奶牛美女。