The latest list of the ten happiest Chinese cities, based on a public survey conducted by Oriental outlook magazine and the China Association of Mayors, was released on Dec. 30, 2012. Southern China's city of Hangzhou tops the list, followed by Chengdu in Sichuan Province and Ningbo in Zhejiang Province.

Since the survey launched in Sept. of last year, more than 30 million people across 50 major and 50 county-level cities have been involved via newspaper or online questionnaires. The evaluation took into account 22 factors such as overall pricing, pace of life, level of convenience, environment, housing, education and transportation.

In the end, the following ten Chinese cities came out on top for 2012.

 Nantong, Jiangsu Province（江蘇南通）

Nantong, Jiangsu Province [baike.com]

Located on the northern bank of the Yangtze River, near the river mouth, Nantong is a vital river port in Jiangsu Province. It was one of the first batch of 14 port cities opened to foreign investment in the recent economic reforms. The prosperity of Nantong has depended on the salt production on the nearby seacoast, rice and cotton agriculture, and especially on its cotton textile production. It is known as the "pioneer city of modern China" as it launched China's first normal university for aspiring teachers, its first non-governmental museum, first textile school, first embroidery school, first drama school, first school of deaf-mutes and first weather station.