China's Ten Happiest Cities

After going through two rounds of selection, China’s 10 happiest cities have finally been chosen by experts and netizens. Almost all of the cities on the list have wonderful environments and many of them are already popular tourist destinations. With a mix of a developed economies and low pressure lifestyles, these cities stand out as some of the most enjoyable places to live. Chengdu came in at first with a rating of 52.84. Netizens rated Chengdu very high, saying it is a beautiful, relaxed, low-pressure city that has a low cost of living. Hangzhou came in second, down a place from last year, but Chengdu only edged it out by 2.5 points.

Surprisingly, Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen and Guangzhou, the four most modern and developed cities in China, were not on the list at all. That these major cities didn’t make the cut is understandable when you take into account high cost of living, high stress, population density, bad traffic and polluted air.

Chengdu

1) Chengdu
Known as “the land of plenty,” Chengdu has been a prosperous, laid-back, happy city since ancient times.

Hangzhou

2) Hangzhou
Located on the shores of West Lake, Hangzhou’s economic development and unparalleled natural beauty have earned it the name, “an earthly paradise.”

Qingdao

3) Qingdao

A comfortable coastal city, Qingdao draws people in with its natural beauty.