Dayao county in Chuxiong, Yunnan, holds a county-level Hanfu styling contest on 30 and 31 October that scores costume and makeup as a separate 3-point category, equal to the runway walk and above stage presence and talent at 2 points each.
| Dates | Evening of 30 October (adult preliminary); morning and evening of 31 October (children’s round, then final) |
|---|---|
| Venue | Yi Embroidery Cultural Park, Dayao county, Chuxiong, Yunnan |
| What it is | Weekend Dayao heritage craft experience and Hanfu styling contest |
| Organisers | Dayao county Party committee’s united front work department with the ethnic and religious affairs bureau; twelve co-organisers including the culture and tourism bureau, the commerce bureau and Muyiyang Hanfu Studio |
| Scoring | Ten-point scale: runway 3, costume and makeup 3, stage presence 2, talent 2; floor 8.0, ceiling 9.99 |
| Entry | Free, registration closed 28 October; no household or regional limit |
| Prizes | Each group: one first prize worth 500 yuan in local produce, two second at 300, three third at 200 |
How the Preliminary Round Runs
Sign-in for the adult group closes at 17:30 on 30 October at the Muyiyang Hanfu Studio inside the park; entrants draw their order there and collect a number bib, and a late arrival is treated as a withdrawal. Between 18:30 and the 19:30 preliminary, competitors walk the park on their own, shoot nine photographs for WeChat Moments and send three more to the organisers’ group chat for promotional use.
Children work to the same script four hours earlier: sign-in by 9:00 on 31 October, preliminary at 9:30, photographs finished by 13:00. Finalists from both groups sign in again by 18:30 and the combined final starts at 19:30. The dividing line is 18 years of age; under-18 entrants file a voluntary participation form countersigned by a guardian, who has to stay on site.
Rules carry provincial reach on a county stage: no household registration limit, no regional limit, entry open to residents and outsiders alike, with registration closing two days before the first round. Twelve co-organisers sit behind the contest, among them the culture and tourism bureau, the commerce bureau, the women’s federation and the Muyiyang studio, with the county Party committee’s united front work department and the ethnic and religious affairs bureau running it.
Five Judges and a Trimmed Average
Five judges score every entrant on runway walk, costume and makeup, talent and stage presence. Scores start at 8.0 and cannot exceed 9.99; the highest and the lowest of the five are struck out and the remaining three averaged to two decimal places. The first three entrants are scored after a short discussion among the panel, and from the fourth onward each score is read out as the walk ends. Anyone contesting a result files a written appeal with the committee within 30 minutes of the final.
The talent segment is capped at three minutes and takes in song, dance, Guqin, chess, calligraphy, painting and tea service, performed alone or in combination. The panel mixes staff from the county’s culture and literary bodies with Hanfu enthusiasts and working makeup artists. Prizes are physical rather than cash: local produce worth 500, 300 and 200 yuan, one first, two second and three third places in each group.
Makeup Scored as Its Own Category
Most Hanfu events judge whether the garment is right, weighing the form, the dynasty and the pairing. This scoresheet lifts costume and makeup out of the walk and gives it a full 3 points, one of only two categories at that weight. The object of judgement is no longer the clothes alone: hair, face, accessories and overall tone all enter the count, and makeup practitioners sit on the panel instead of working backstage.
Cost splits the look in two. The contest charges no entry fee, but travel, lodging, costume, makeup and props are carried by the entrant; the committee arranges no accommodation, supplies no clothing and runs no makeup service. A dress can be bought and worn again, a finished face cannot, so the Hanfu makeup and hair work becomes the discriminating skill rather than the purchase.
Dayao stages the contest inside the Yi Embroidery Cultural Park, where Yi costume, embroidered pouches and hanging ornaments are sold a few steps from the runway. Hanfu styling and Yi embroidery share a room without either being turned into the other’s backdrop. The contest also sits inside Weekend Dayao, a county brand that fills the same weekend with volleyball, table tennis, badminton, football and a Hanfu styling round, which keeps dress on a calendar next to ordinary sport.
