Over 13,600 NBA basketball fans, including thousands of Asian Americans from the

Over 13,600 NBA basketball fans, including thousands of Asian Americans from the Washington, DC metropolitan area, were at the Verizon Center to watch the Washington Wizards take on the Houston Rockets and celebrate Asian Heritage Night.

Of the many Asian and Chinese American organizations in attendance, the 2010 Washington Metropolitan Miss Chinese American Beauty Pageant winners – Patty Yao, Serena Lin, and Kathy Shi – were among the most popular.

Hundreds of excited fans waited anxiously for an opportunity to have their pictures taken with Patty, Serena, and Kathy during the pre-game meet and greet. At one point, the crowd of photo seekers and onlookers grew so large that they blocked up a section of the Verizon Center concourse.

Chris Jan, executive director of the Washington Metropolitan Miss Chinese American Beauty Pageant, attended the event along with pageant directors George Cheung and Jon Liu. Also on hand was DC Miss China Beauty Pageant MC, Rita Lee who was a special guest announcer for the Wizards.

“I am very happy to see so many people taking pictures with our pageant queens,” said Chris Jan. “We are honored to be here as representatives of our community and I am thrilled by the tremendous reception our young ladies are receiving from the wonderful Washington Wizard fans.”

The Washington Wizards Asian Heritage Night is an annual event that honors the Asian American communities of the Washington, DC metropolitan area. The highpoint of the evening was the contest between Wizards center Yi Jianlian and NBA All-Star Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets. The Wizard defeated the Rockets by a score of 98 to 91.