Three pools mirroring the moon at the West Lake in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province [File Photo: hot.dahangzhou.com]

The happiest cities in the Chinese mainland this year were announced in the city of Kunming in southwest China's Yunnan province on Wednesday, Xinhua News Agency reported.

The 10 award-winning cities are: Hangzhou, Ningbo, Kunming, Tianjin, Tangshan, Foshan, Shaoxing, Changchun, Wuxi and Changsha. Hangzhou was awarded a gold medal for winning top places for the fifth year in succession.

The awards were organised by Xinhua News Agency's weekly magazine "Liaowang Dongfang" or Oriental Outlook and the China City Development Committee of the China Mayors Association.

The survey, which lasted four months, was based on the University of Chicago's system of Hedonomics, the science of happiness.

A detailed survey covered 12 indices such as natural environment, transportation, overall development, health care and house prices. A total of 7 million people took the survey.

Among the subsidiary awards, Anshan won most humane city, Shanghai the most liveable city, Qingdao the safest city, and Haikou the most environmentally-friendly city.