For years China has been known for its generous deployment of bikini models to spice up industry conferences and meetings. But news that scantily clad models were recently recruited to enliven the country's first 'dairy cow beauty pageant' is being described some as utterly - or should that be udderly? - ridiculous.
众所周知，多年来，中国的行业会展和会议都不惜花钱聘请比基尼模特来活跃气氛。但前不久，全国首届“奶牛选美大赛”也招募穿着清凉的模特来助兴，一些人说这未免太荒唐了。
Designed to promote the dairy industry of Shanyin County in the central Chinese province of Shanxi, the weekend contest pitted more than 200 cows against each other based on looks, milk and pedigree.
为了推广山西省山阴县的牛奶产业，上周末举行的这场活动推出200多头奶牛，根据它们的外貌、产奶情况和家族血统来“选美”。
The concept is a strange one even for a country with more than its fair share of mystifying events. But it's the eight bikini models hired for the bovine pageant and made to pose awkwardly next to, and even milk, the cows that has churned the controversy.
中国各种让人莫名其妙的活动挺多，然而上述做法还是够另类。引起争议的是奶牛选美活动聘请的那八名比基尼模特。她们在奶牛旁边笨拙地摆造型──甚至还给奶牛挤奶。
Photos of the girls - all of them, perhaps understandably, wearing masks - spread around traditional and social media websites on Monday, and even earned an editorial on the website of the Communist Party mouthpiece People's Daily.
这些女孩的照片（所有模特都戴上了面具，这一点或许可以理解）周一传遍了传统网站和社交媒体网站，就连人民网也为此发表了一篇评论文章。
While noting that the popularity of beauty contests has been rising (China's Yu Wenxia won the Miss World pageant over the weekend), the editorial argues that in this case things seem to have gone a bit too far. 'Beautiful girls have far greater ability to attract attention that the milk cow contestants,' it reads. 'How do you think that makes the cows feel?'
文章一方面提到选美比赛日益盛行（中国的于文霞在上周末世界小姐选美大赛中夺冠） ，一方面认为这次奶牛选美搞得太过火。文章说：“美女的吸引力远远大过前来参加‘选美’的奶牛们，不知道那些参加选美的奶牛心里会怎么想？”
The editorial also calls attention to one model who said given the natural setting of the dairy farm, posing in a bikini felt 'harmonious.'
文章还提到，一位模特说，置身于牧场的天然环境中，穿着比基尼摆造型也挺“和谐”。
The article allows the girl might simply have been embarrassed and making excuses, but reserves little sympathy for the organizer of the conference, who it sarcastically declares must have a peculiar understanding of what adds excitement to an event.
文章承认，这位模特可能只是觉得不好意思，是在找说辞。但它对活动组织者就毫不留情了，而是带着讽刺意味地说，组织者对于什么东西能够让活动更精彩肯定有着奇怪的理解。
On Sina Corp.'s popular Weibo microblogging service, most users milked the ample potential to make puns about the contest, but a few were more critical of the proceedings. 'Shanxi's 'cow models' - an inconceivable objectification of women,' wrote one user posting under the screen name Ariel_Meow.
在新浪微博上，多数用户都在充分发挥这场活动的巨大恶搞潜力。但也有一些人更多地是持批评态度。“Ariel_Meow”在新浪微博上写道：“山西的‘牛模’，不可思议地物化女性。”
Organizers of some Chinese promotional events have recently tried to move away from reliance on bikini girls - in one case replacing them with cross-dressing men. But given the success Shanyin had in drawing attention to its dairy industry over the weekend, China likely hasn't seen the last of the cow belles.
最近中国一些推广活动的主办方也曾尝试减少对比基尼女孩的依赖。有一场活动就没有安排比基尼女孩，而是用穿着女装的男模取代。但考虑到山阴县在上周末成功地吸引了人们对其牛奶产业的关注，这可能不会是中国最后一批奶牛美女。