Miss Chinatown Houston was a beauty pageant 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 Francisco, where the first Chinatown was established.
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.[2] By 2000, there was dinner, a 4 part pageant competition, a fashion show, and elaborate music festivities. [3] While the 1971 program featured a beauty pageant segment, the 2016 pageant'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".[4] An endorsement from the mayor began in 1983.[5]
The first Miss Chinatown Houston was held in Sylvan Beach, Le Porte, Texas. 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.
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.[6] 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.[7]
| 1971 | Cheelan Bo-Lin | Sylvan Beach Pavilion | ||
| 1972 | Cookie Joe | Sylvan Beach Pavilion | ||
| 1973 | Suzanne Gee | Rice Hotel | ||
| 1974 | Ellen Chang | Mariott Motor Hotel | ||
| 1975 | Judy Lee1975 Miss Chinatown Texas----Cynthia Lee 1975 Miss Chinatown Houston | Astroworld Hotel Grand Ballroom | ||
| 1976 | Alisa Toy1976 Miss Chinatown Texas----Dorothy Soo Leong 1976 Miss Chinatown Houston | Astroworld Hotel Grand Ballroom | ||
| 1977 | Diana Jeu | |||
| 1978 | Janet Goh1978 Miss Chinatown Texas----Shirley Ng 1978 Miss Chinatown Houston | |||
| 1979 | Ellen Sue Lien Thai | Marriott Hotel Astrodome | ||
| 1980 | Sandy Lee | Marriott Hotel Astrodome | ||
| 1981 | Simone Gee | Shamrock Hilton Hotel | ||
| 1982 | Virginia Chang | Shamrock Hilton Hotel | ||
| 1983 | Marilyn Hsu | Shamrock Hilton Hotel | ||
| 1984 | Christina Fang | Shamrock Hilton Hotel | ||
| 1985 | Cami Lee Chan | Adam's Mark Hotel | ||
| 1986 | Marcelle Wong | Adam's Mark Hotel | ||
| 1987 | Eva Lue | Adam's Mark Hotel | ||
| 1988 | Chemien Wu | Adam's Mark Hotel | ||
| 1989 | Evelyn Ding | Westin Galleria Hotel | ||
| 1990 | Theresa Young | Double Tree Hotel-Post Oak | ||
| 1991 | Sherry Liu | J.W Marriot Hotel-Westheimer | ||
| 1992 | Melissa Yeh | J.W Marriot Hotel-Westheimer | ||
| 1993 | Maryann Lee | J.W Marriot Hotel-Westheimer | ||
| 1994 | Tammy Gee | |||
| 1995 | Doris Chao | J.W Marriot Hotel-Galleria | ||
| 1996 | Yvonne Hsu | J.W Marriot Hotel-Exhibition Center-Galleria | ||
| 1997 | Mo-Lin Liu | J.W Marriot Hotel-Exhibition Center-Galleria | ||
| 1998 | Francine Di | J.W Marriot Hotel-Exhibition Center-Galleria | ||
| 1999 | Ruby Sheng | J.W Marriot Hotel-Exhibition Center-Grand Ballroom | ||
| 2000 | Erin Wu | J.W Marriot Hotel-Exhibition Center-Galleria | ||
| 2001 | Amy Chang | J.W Marriot Hotel-Exhibition Center-Galleria | ||
| 2002 | Le Zhang | J.W Marriot Hotel-Exhibition Center-Galleria | ||
| 2003 | Rina Tzeng | |||
| 2004 | Karen Wong | J.W Marriot Hotel-Exhibition Center-Galleria | ||
| 2005 | Jia Hu | J.W Marriot Hotel-Exhibition Center-Galleria | ||
| 2006 | Connie Chen | J.W Marriot Hotel-Exhibition Center-Galleria | ||
| 2007 | Francine Cheng | Omni Hotels | ||
| 2008 | Cindy Wu | Crown Plaza Reliant Park | ||
| 2009 | Angela Wang | JW Marriott Hotel Galleria-Liberty Hall | ||
| 2010 | Joy Le | JW Marriott Hotel Galleria-Liberty Hall | ||
| 2011 | Steffi Hu | JW Marriott Hotel Galleria-Liberty Hall | ||
| 2012 | Anna Zhang | JW Marriott Hotel Galleria-Liberty Hall | ||
| 2013 | Karen Li | JW Marriott Hotel Galleria-Liberty Hall | ||
| 2014 | Rose Li | JW Marriott Hotel Galleria-Liberty Hall | ||
| 2015 | Rachel Lee | |||
| 2016 | Karen Yang | Royal Sonesta Hotel | ||
| 2017 | Janet Chen | Royal Sonesta Hotel | ||
| 2018 | Karen Yen | Royal Sonesta Hotel | ||
| 2019 | Lauren Yang | Royal Sonesta Hotel | ||
| 2020 | Pageant not held, due to COVID. | |||
| 2021 | Pageant not held, due to COVID. | |||
| 2022 | Christine Yuan | Royal Sonesta Hotel | ||
| 2023 | Grace Zhang | Royal Sonesta Hotel | ||
| 2024 | Teresa So | Royal Sonesta Hotel |