Hangzhou took home the title of the top Chinese city in which to live in 2009, winning the award for the sixth time. The top 10 best cities to live in China was unveiled in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province last Saturday.

Hangzhou was described as a Chinese painting scroll, a heaven in dream by the judge panel with Shen Jian, deputy mayor of Hangzhou, receiving the award on behalf of the 6 million citizens, remarking that it is the highest honor of Hangzhou to win this title.

The other top cities included Ningbo of Zhejiang Province, Xi'an, Kunming of Yunnan Province, Changsha of Hunan Province, and Nanjing of Jiangsu Province.

Oriental Outlook, a week hosted the Xinhua News Agency, developed the survey along with the China Association of Mayors. The list was released after a four-month survey, which covers 12 indexes including natural environment, business opportunities, medical services, housing prices, public security and employment.

Horizon Research Group entrusted by the organizer conducted household interviews of more than 600,000 people in 100 candidate cities. About 30 million people voted through newspapers, text messages and the Internet.

By Li Hui Editor: Guo Changdong