[Mr. Jeeves]

My Japanese instructor in college said that she thought the most beautiful women in East Asia were Chinese, fwiw. And Gong Li is one of the most beautiful alive today, in my opinion.

Total agreement on both points! And I'm lucky enough to work in San Francisco, where there are hordes of them. ;)

Here's Gong Li. Believe it or not, she'll be 40 years old on 12/31/2005.

[Tax-chick]

Just a few months older than I am ... but I'll bet she hasn't had eight children, and gets her hair colored professionally :-). (My Japanese teacher also said that it's assumed in Japan that all older women color their hair, and it's perfectly polite to ask what brand of hair color a lady uses, or who her stylist is!)

She had to be born with that face though, and one just has to stare in awe.