Santa Monica Woman Named First Princess of Miss Los Angeles Chinatown, 32 Years After Her Mother's Crown
Ashley Lai, a Chinese-American woman who has lived in Santa Monica, has been named First Princess of the 2026 Miss Los Angeles Chinatown pageant, becoming one of the pageant's new cultural ambassadors. Her mother won the same competition 32 years ago, and the two standing on the same stage a generation apart has become a much-told story in Los Angeles's Chinese community. Lai said after her win that she once doubted she was 'Chinese enough,' and that the title has led her to connect more deeply with her heritage as a cultural ambassador, promoting cultural inheritance and exchange in the Chinese-American community. Founded in 1963 and sponsored by the Los Angeles Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association (the 'Lo Sang' Chinese chamber), the Miss Los Angeles Chinatown pageant is an annual leadership program selecting outstanding young women from the greater Los Angeles area to represent the community. It weighs not only appearance and talent but also a winner's commitment to community service and cultural preservation. Miss Los Angeles Chinatown titleholders have long been active in community charity, cultural promotion and youth leadership.
(Source: Santa Monica Daily Press)
Source: Santa Monica Daily Press
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：洛杉矶华埠。图片来源：Wikimedia Commons，授权见图页。 / Photo: Los Angeles Chinatown. Source: Wikimedia Commons (license on file page).
