China will soon host the finals of the country's first beauty contest in which every contestant has gone under the knife.

A competitor in China's first artificial beauty pageant receives final touches before the opening presentation in Beijing December 12, 2004. The finals for Miss Artificial Beauty are due to be held Saturday December 18, 2004, when contestants ranging from 17 to 62 years-old will parade their surgical nips and tucks-- enhancements once banned in beauty contests. Cosmetic surgery has become popular in China. [Reuters] Competitors in China's first artificial beauty pageant receive final touches before the opening presentation in Beijing December 12, 2004.[Reuters]

Liu Yulan, 62, the oldest contestant in the beauty pageant.[Reuters]

Beauty pageants were once considered reviled displays of western decadence but have become big business in China following more than two decades of economic reforms.

"I wanted to convey a message to society -- that the pursuit of beauty is ageless," said 62-year-old Liu Yulan, the oldest contestant who turned to plastic surgery to smooth facial wrinkles and fill out her drawn cheeks.

A contestant is having her hair prepared at a promotion event of the man-made beauty contest.[Reuters]

Organizers dreamed up the pageant after one woman who splashed $13,000 on improving her looks attempted to sue them for banning her from the finals of a traditional beauty contest in May.

Plastic surgery clinics offering everything from liposuction to eye re-modeling have mushroomed in major cities in China in recent years.