"The Chinese magazine Oriental Outlook" and the commission for the Annual Report on Urban Development of China recently undertook a survey to select 10 cities in Chinese mainland with the highest level of happiness. Guangzhou ranks on the list for the first time.

At the award ceremony held in Changsha, Hunan Province yesterday (Dec, 26), the organizers explained that the main reason Guangzhou is on this year's list can be attributed to the city's effort to improve urban landscape prior to the Asian Games.

According to statistics, Guangzhou carried out 581 projects to reduce pollution levels in its 121 waterways and has improved the promenades along the Pearl River and some streams flowing through the city.

After closing a number of polluting factories and closely monitoring air emissions, the city has seen air quality significantly improve.

As for social security, the city has increased the number of people benefiting from social insurance and increased pensions. More than 63,281 out of 77,177 low-income households were accorded housing assistance.

A survey of the Top 10 Happiest Cities has been carried out for three years and the selection procedures follow international criteria. Other cities listed this year are Chongqing, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Changsha, Kunming, Nanjing, Changchun, Tonghua and Wuxi.