阿聯酋：駱駝也選美

More than 10,000 camels from across the Gulf will be competing for millions of dollars in prize money at a beauty pageant for the "ship of the desert" in Abu Dhabi this week.

The contest is part of a camel festival being staged from Wednesday in the capital of the United Arab Emirates which aims to celebrate and preserve the region's cultural heritage.

Camels from Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia will strut their stuff before a panel of expert judges who will decide which owners should be awarded prize money totalling around 9.5 million dollars. One hundred cars are also up for grabs.

"Preserving the rich heritage of the UAE and passing it on to future generations constitutes one of the most important missions which people of the UAE wish to undertake, by connecting our culturally rich past with our aspired bright and prosperous future," the official WAM news agency quoted festival organiser Mohammed al-Mazrouei as saying earlier last week.

Oil-rich Abu Dhabi, one of seven emirates that makes up the UAE federation, produced the world's first test-tube purebred camel and has begun using remote-controlled robot riders in its camel races.

Camel racing is a very popular sport in Arab states. It's not only a sport for fun but also a profitable business.

（阿聯酋首都）阿布扎比將於本週爲具有“沙漠之舟”之稱的駱駝舉行選美大賽。屆時，來自海灣各國的一萬多頭駱駝將參加選美，大賽的獎金總額達數百萬美元。

“駱駝選美大賽”是將於下週三在阿布扎比開幕的“駱駝節”的一項活動，這一節日旨在慶祝和保護海灣地區的文化遺產。

屆時，來自巴林、科威特、阿曼、卡塔爾和沙特阿拉伯的參賽駱駝將“昂首挺胸地”站在專家評委們的面前接受評判。評審小組將從中選出優勝選手，除950萬美元的獎金外，大賽還將提供100輛小轎車作爲獎品。

阿聯酋通訊社於上週早些時候援引活動組織者穆罕默德•馬茲魯伊的話說：“保護阿聯酋豐富的文化遺產並將其傳給後代是阿聯酋人民最希望承擔的重任之一，我們將努力把過去豐富的文化遺產與光明、繁榮的未來聯繫在一起。”

富產石油的阿布扎比是阿聯酋七個酋長國之一，它曾成功培育出了世界首例試管駱駝，並開始在賽駱駝比賽中使用遙控機器人騎手。

賽駱駝在阿拉伯地區十分盛行，它不僅是人們娛樂消遣的一個體育項目，而且還是個贏利頗豐的行業。