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Miss World Canada 2013 ‘Beauty with a Purpose’ pageant. The crowning and announcement of Camille Munro as the 2013 Miss World Canada and Tamara Jemuovic and Anastasia Lin as first and second runner-ups respectively at the River Rock Show Theatre in Richmond BC, Canada on May 09, 2013.

With contestants coming from all across Canada, the beauty pageant has been based in the Vancouver area for the last few years and doubled as a fundraising occasion for Variety, the Children Charity.

There were an evening gowns catwalk, international costumes display and bikini swimwear competition that proved to be a popular attraction over the years. Talent performances were provided by the girls themselves which included Nicole Johnston (acrobatics), Melissa Francis (opera, O Mio Babbino Caro with the audience clapping before the famous aria from Giacomo Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi was even finished) and Anastasia Lin (piano music).

Mr. World Canada 2012 Frankie Cena made a special appearance and sang as well which gained him thunderous applauses. The evening’s program was hosted by SportsCentre’s Bryan Mudryk and TV fashion personality Natalie Langston. There were some hiccups when announcing the winners which lead to a recall, but eventually got it right the second time.

After an emotional but upbeat farewell walk and speech, Tara Teng, last year’s winner relinquished her reign and crowned her successor.

Representing Canada, Camille Munro will compete at the Miss World 2013 in Bogor, Indonesia later this year in September.

Congratulations, Camille Munroe!!


[Videos by Ray Van Eng | www.vancouver21.com ]
Bikini Swimwear Competition

Multicultural Costumes

Ray Van Eng is an award-winning Photographer, Screenwriter and Movie & TV Producer. One of his videos is currently on view at the Hava Nagila Exhibit, Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust in Manhattan, New York, NY. from Sep 2012 to May 2013.

River Rock Show Theatre 8811 River Rd, Richmond, BC

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The 4th Annual Vancouver Chinese Cultural Festival 中国文化节 (VCCF) Combined Richmond Lantern Festival 列治文中秋灯节 with Cultural Days to Celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival. Organizers & dignitaries: 中国驻温哥华总领事刘菲 Liu Fei, Vancouver Chinese Consul General, 加拿大中国文化促进会会长李琦 Ricky Li, 永远荣誉会长谢伯衡 Pak Hang Tse, 加拿大中国文化促进会名誉会长叶洪涛 Hongtao Ye and others.


Inspired by the UNESCO Convention for the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, of which Canada is a founding member, Culture Days is a Canada-wide volunteer-focused and citizens enabled cultural program aimed at raising the awareness, accessibility, participation and engagement of all Canadians in the arts and cultural life of their communities.

Launched in 2010, this year’s Culture Days fall on the weekend from Sep 28-30, 2012. In the Greater Vancouver area alone, there are no less than fifty culturally focused programs including dance performances, concerts, art exhibits, carving, historical walking tour, books fair, poetry-reading etc.

Richmond BC has one of the largest and most vibrant Chinese communities in the country. To help celebrate Culture Days, the Association of Chinese Cultural Promotion Canada 加拿大中国文化促进会 organized the Richmond Lantern Festival 列治文中秋灯节 to coincide with the Mid-Autumn Festival (often lovingly-referred to as the Mooncake Festival) that is a very popular celebration occasion in China and many parts of Asia.

In 2009, the Vancouver Chinese Cultural Festival (VCCF) 中国文化节 has its inaugural Chinese cultural fair at the BC Place Plaza of Nations in downtown Vancouver and the festivities get even bigger this year with the Richmond Antiques RoadShow & Art Collection Fair also joining.

Much of the 4th annual VCCF and Cultural Days weekend in Richmond BC took place at Minoru Park, a nice neighborhood park within a short walking distance from the Brighouse Skytrain station and Richmond Centre Mall. The three-day festival offered a full program of activities. Much of that centered on a performance stage for music and dance by local and invited guests from China. There was even a mini-fashion show and ticketed events offsite as well. Under a large white tent, a book and culture fair and a Chinese artwork collection exhibit attracted many curious minds interested the 5,000 years of Chinese history and cultural treasures.

A group of longtime actors, singers and performers from the Hong Kong movie and TV industry (many of whom now call Vancouver or Richmond home) made an appearance to add an extra bit of glamour and excitement. A bonfire party wrapped up a weekend of Chinese cultural celebration on Sunday night (Sep 30th, 2012) at 8PM.

The weekend of events has an estimated 30,000 people participating. Visitors enjoyed the opportunity to experience the Mid-Autumn Festival and have their mooncake and eat it too.

[Photos & text by Ray Van Eng | www.vancouver21.com ]

Minoru Park, Richmond BC

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Swimsuit USA International Model Search 2012 for the Vancouver Area @ River Rock Casino Resort in Richmond BC on September 21, 2012.

Danielle Moore and Kay McPhee, the top two winners get to go to Cancun, Mexico to compete in the Swimsuit USA International Finals competition in November (13th-18th) this year at the Hard Rock Hotel.

Bikini Girls on Catwalk

Top 5 Winners

8811 River Road Richmond, BC

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Evening gown designs by Sandra Sung. Tara Teng won the crown as Miss World Canada 2012 with 1st Runner-up Lisa Deane and 2nd Runner-up Tanya Halata. The event took place in the Greater Vancouver area on May 13, 2012 at the River Rock Show Theatre in Richmond BC. Tara Teng will represent Canada to compete in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, China for the Miss World 2012 Title on August 18, 2012. Emphasizing both inner and outer beauty, the “Beauty With a Purpose” beauty contest helps raise funds for Variety-The Children’s Charity.

VIDEO – Miss World Canada Sandra Sung Evening Gowns

River Rock Show Theatre – 8811 River Road, Richmond, BC

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The crowning of Tara Teng as Miss World Canada 2012, 1st Runner-up Lisa Deane and 2nd Runner-up Tanya Halata took place in Vancouver on May 13, 2012 at the River Rock Show Theatre in Richmond BC.

The “Beauty With a Purpose” beauty contest helps raise funds for Variety-The Children’s Charity. Tara Teng became the next ambassador representing Canada to compete in the Miss World Pageant in Ordos, China (Inner Mongolia) later this year.

Miss World® Canada helps raise funds for Variety-The Children’s Charity. So far, the organization has raised more than $500 million globally. Beyond philanthropy, the pageant also aims to inspire women and enrich those contestants who participated for a lifelong career of giving, helping the less fortunate especially children with special needs and enabling them to build a better future.

The winner of Miss World Canada receives an all-expense paid trip to Ordos in China to compete in the Miss World® pageant, as well as scholarships, prizes, and leadership opportunities. This year’s pageant falls right on Mother’s Day and is therefore dedicated to the occasion.

VIDEO – Tara Teng Crowned Miss World Canada 2012

River Rock Show Theatre – 8811 River Road, Richmond, BC

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Be your own model and fashion designer. You can have your cake and eat it too! That’s how Vancouver area models and fasionistas have fun.

At the Empress Spring Fashion Soirée 2012, a group of models, beauty pageant contestants and friends gathered together and enjoyed an evening of show-off your own fashion and style on runway, music and good food at the 0755 Restaurant & Lounge in Richmond, BC on April 19, 2012.

The evening’s activities was hosted by Lingli Kong, a Vancouver TV personality and a founder of Empress Communications. Increasingly, this westcoast Canadian city is having more and more of this type of events that can attract a diversity audience from different communities for people who are seeking entertainment, fashion, music, style and glamour and audience participation.

Each year, Vancouver-based Empress Communications organizes the World Music Fashion Festival (http://wmff.ca/about) and tours China with an ensemble cast of international models and fashion designers to put up catwalk runway shows in different Chinese cities. In 2011, its inaugural year, the WMFF 2011 visited Shanghai, Dalian, Chengdu, Neijing and Hangzhou during August and September.

VIDEO – Empress Spring Fashion Soirée 2012
[Video by Ray Van Eng, V21 Media.]

0755 Restaurant & Lounge, 3779 Sexsmith Road, Richmond BC.

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The Honorable Ed Fast, Canada’s Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway, was in a Richmond BC Chinese restaurant on October 07, 2011 just prior to his visit to China on the same day. He talked about his trade mission and how the two countries could benefit each other by having a closer trade and people ties. Mr. Fast highlighted nuclear power, natural resources, aerospace and infrastructure as areas that Canada excels that can help China in sustaining growth. He also cited Forbes magazine’s analysis that Canada is the best country in the world to do business right now.

VIDEO – Minister Fast China Trade Talk

Richmond, BC

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Just for fun, for the fans, we slapped together this quickie movie trailer for Life For Mile. Hope you guys like it!

Life For Mile is a Historic Drama/Western/Kung Fu/Mystery/Action/Comedy movie. It is based on the true-life story of the Chinese and Indian (First Nations) laborers who worked together in the construction of the transcontinental railway that united Canada as a nation in the 1880s.

Cultural content-wise, the movie is 50% Chinese and 50% First Nations. Western genre movies are often about cowboys or cowboys and Indians, but Life For Mile is different. This movie is about the true-life accounts of the Chinese and indians (First Nations) railroad workers who united together to go against their railway cowboy masters and ultimately restored some degree of dignities for themselves. Life For Mile is executive produced by Hollywood actor Stephen Chang. [Music by Kevin MacLeod.]

Life For Mile Facebook Fan Page

VIDEO – FOR FANS ONLY Life For Mile Movie Trailer

Shell Road, Richmond, BC

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It is the Year of The Rabbit for the 2011 Chinese New Year (CNY) in the lunar calendar. Vancouver has a very substantial Chinese community and around this time of the year, there is usually a concert or two from the Chinese community to welcome a new year and have a good start. As is often the case, this concert is associated with some charity cause. This year it is no exception.

A CNY concert was being held on January 28, 2011 at the River Rock Show Theatre in Richmond, BC. The event was organized by the Vancouver Metropolitan Lions Club to help raise funds for the Richmond Hospital. A number of singers and performers originated form Hong Kong were invited to participate in the evening’s program. The artists include Li Lung Kee, (???), Joe Tai, Heiman Wong and Queenie Lee. It is mainly a concert of Cantonese and a few Mandarin and English songs. Musical arrangement by Samuel Chan was designed for the audience to reminiscence the fabulous Cantonese pop tunes of the 1980s and then progressively lead into the modern era of popular songs of today in Hong Kong.









































































8811 River Road, Richmond BC

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The 14th Dalai Lama is currently in his residence in Dharamsala celebrating his 75th birthday. Thousands have braved the rainy weather to greet him with well wishes in that northern mountainous region in India.

Since he fled Tibet in 1959 after a failed revolt against Chinese rule, His Holiness had lived more than two-thirds of his life in exile. In recent years, his health has declined and his condition had been monitored closely by his followers and those in Beijing. The reason – who will succeed him is of great interest to all.

For at least the last few hundred years, Tibetans believed that their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, was chosen by God and not by mere mortals because a Dalai Lama was reincarnated or had the spiritual being (or soul) of Bodhisattva. The main contention now is that while China claims to have the historical right to finally approve any reincarnation or any other senior Tibetan religious leaders for that matter, Tibetans disagree.

On the other hand, the Dalai Lama could choose his own successor, even among those who are not Tibetans as has happened before in the past when a Mongolian became the 4th Dalai Lama and an Indian became the 6th Dalai Lama.

One thing is for sure. The 14th Dalai Lama felt that he had lived a fruitful life as he recently looked at posters that documented his earlier existence as a child, young man and spiritual leader for the people of Tibet, he commented, “I remember my past and I feel that I haven’t wasted these years.”

An interesting thing about the Dalai Lama and World Cup 2010. Last year, South Africa denied the Dalai Lama a visa to the country over concerns that his visit will shift focus away from the 2010 World Cup. Dalai Lama was invited to be present in an international peace conference in Johannesburg in March 2009 organized by the South African World Cup soccer officials. The meeting was to highlight the first World Cup to be held in Africa in 2010. Because the Dalai Lama was refused entry, the international peace conference had to be cancelled as a number of fellow Nobel Peace Prize Laureates including South Africa’s Desmond Tutu and former president F. W. de Klerk said they would boycott the event in protest. South Africa had strong trading ties with China and was in fact the largest trading partner in that continent.

The Tibetan-style Thrangu Monastery at 8140 No.5 Road, Richmond, B.C. will be opened later this month. This monastery closely resembles an ancient one in Tibet that has been badly destroyed in the April 2010 earthquake.






Dharamsala, India

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