Xiren Wang, Lili Wat, and Sitong Chen join the pageant’s opening routine, dancing to “The Boys”, a song by K-Pop group «Girls’ Generation». While the women come from a range of professional backgrounds – including economics, nursing, and acting – every contestant is looking for her big break into the entertainment industry. Most contestants said they would prefer to have a career in the U.S. but would go wherever the opportunity lies. (Photo and caption by John Brecher/Sahra Vang Nguyen/NBC News)

In this May 4, 2014 photo, a miner holds an amalgam of mercury and gold he mined after working a 28-hour shift at an illegal gold mining process, in La Pampa, in Peru's Madre de Dios region. Thousands of artisanal gold miners sweat through the long shifts and endure, for a few grams of gold, the perils of collapsing earth, limb-crushing machinery and the toxic mercury used to bind gold flecks. (Photo by Rodrigo Abd/AP Photo)

An actor performs as a zombie during the “Train to Apocalypse” event at a Light Rail Transit (LRT) train station in Jakarta, Indonesia, 09 September 2022. The Indonesian capital's LRT operator modified train cars and stations into zombie apocalypse settings to promote the use of public transportations. (Photo by Mast Irham/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

An aerial view of paddy fields at Debao County on October 16, 2022 in Baise, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of China. The paddy fields in Baise have entered harvest season. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)

Police gesture in respect towards a monk as they block protesters trying to march to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation APEC summit venue, Friday, November 18, 2022, in Bangkok, Thailand. (Photo by Wason Wanichakorn/AP Photo)

Folk artists perform “iron flowers”, a folk art performance of throwing molten iron to create fireworks, in Daying County of Suining City, southwest China's Sichuan Province on January 26, 2023. (Photo by Xinhua News Agency/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A Chinese woman poses for a photo in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic that was created with other floral decorations in advance of the country's national holidays, also known as Golden week on September 28, 2020 in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st.(Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

Miranda state beauty pageant contestant Luiseth Materan, wearing a protective face mask issued by the Miss Venezuela beauty pageant, arrives to the Venevision television station to prepare for a meeting with judges, in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, September 18, 2020. Quarantine rules and social distancing has forced the contestants to train at home and online with limited access to the venue itself where strict measures are in place. The pageant is due to take place on Sept. 24. (Photo by Ariana Cubillos/AP Photo)