Kong Shendong, a Hangzhou resident as well as delegate to the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, presents the "Top-10 Happiest Chinese Cities " award to Cai Qi, Mayor of Hangzhou, at an award ceremony held in Hangzhou, capital city of east China's Zhejiang Province on Tuesday evening, November 6, 2007. [Photo: CRIENGLISH.com]

Hangzhou and nine other Chinese cities have been voted the top ten happiest Chinese cities to live in, according to a survey released Tuesday evening.

This is the third time that Hangzhou tops the list of happiest cities. It was voted the happiest city in similar surveys in 2004 and 2006.

The other nine cities are Shenyang, Zhongshan, Ningbo, Qingdao, Taizhou, Zhuhai, Shanghai, Beijing and Chengdu.

Outstanding residents from the ten cities were invited to present the awards to their municipal governments at a ceremony on Tuesday evening in Hangzhou, capital city of east China's Zhejiang Province. Celebrities like singer Sun Nan and former world table tennis champion Jiang Jialiang attended the award ceremony.

The survey sponsored by Beijing-based magazine Oriental Outlook and some research institutes, including the Social Survey Institute of China, has been trying since April to determine the Top 10 cities in China, where residents feel happiest.

The evaluating standard includes various aspects of people's life, such as life pace, human touch, chances to make money, living convenience, culture and entertainment, architectural aesthetics, environment, safety and so on.

Thirty-five mainland cities were selected from more than 200 in the first round of selection. Final voting was conducted in August and September. Organizers received about 2.76 million valid questionnaires as well as over 30 million hits on the internet.

Cities like Hangzhou and Chengdu are included in the list thanks to their beautiful landscapes, leisurable lifestyle, low price and low work pressure, according to the survey.

But the survey also found that people in fast pacing metropolitans such as Beijing and Shanghai are reluctant to move to other places because they enjoy the luxury of modern life and the convenience in big cities.