Guangzhou was selected as one of the happiest cities in China in 2019 during the Forum of the Happy Cities of China, which took place at Guangdong Museum on Nov 25.

An additional nine cities were included on the list, namely Chengdu in Sichuan, Ningbo, Hangzhou, Wenzhou and Taizhou in Zhejiang, Xi'an and Tongchuan in Shaanxi, Changsha in Hunan and Xuzhou in Jiangsu.

This year's selection took more than three months, incorporating big data collection, questionnaire surveys, material declaration, and expert reviews.

Hosted by Oriental Outlook magazine and the Liaowang Institute of the Xinhua News Agency, the selection evaluated cities countrywide over a variety of indexes, spanning employment, public safety, education, and medicine.

The evaluation methodology has been refined through years of experience, said Feng Yingbing, chief editor of Oriental Outlook. "We can say that this methodology is our unique formula."

"This is the third time for Guangzhou to be selected as the happiest city in China. Among the nine sub-indexes, the income index of Guangzhou residents has gone up by two places this year, while the city also ranked among the tops in the ecological environment index and the city attraction index," said a person in charge of the hosting of the forum.

Guangzhou's Tianhe district, one of the main districts in downtown Guangzhou, was awarded as the happiest district during the forum, along with Nansha district. Tianhe district also won a special award for its outstanding performance in local attractions.

"Tianhe's climbed 62 places this year in the medical health index. Possessing the strongest economic power in Guangzhou, Tianhe boasts a well-developed service industry, attracting a large number of headquarters enterprises," said Xiong Hui, director of the Baidu business intelligence laboratory.

About 300 guests, including delegations from selected cities, experts, scholars, and media members, participated in the forum.

Ten cities, including Guangzhou, Chengdu, Ningbo, and Wenzhou, are selected as the happiest cities in China in 2019 during a forum, which took place at Guangdong Museum on Nov 25. [Photo by Liu Liqin/southcn.com]