Eastern Chinese city Hangzhou was rated as one of the country's cities that 
offer their citizens utmost happiness at the 2019 China Happy Cities Forum on 
November 25. This was the 13th time for Hangzhou to win the title, the only 
city with such an achievement across the country, and it was also named as a 
demonstration model happy city, a special honor from the event's organizing 
committee.

Happiness is a subjective feeling of people's satisfaction with life. The 
"happiest city" is the highest praise that a city can get from its citizens. 
Then, where does the happiness of Hangzhou dwellers come from?

This happiness is rooted in the hearts of local people. Compared with other 
cities in China, Hangzhou pays more attention to people's feelings about the 
city. From the convenient high-quality public services to the sound all-round 
multi-field social governance, Hangzhou empowers every dweller with confidence, 
hope and drive.

This happiness also comes from the city's steady development. Hangzhou is 
speeding up the development of the first digital economy city and the gathering 
place of global entrepreneurs among others, so that every entrepreneur and 
innovator coming to Hangzhou can have the opportunity to realize his dream and 
live a rich life.

Harmony with nature has contributed to Hangzhou dwellers' happiness too. The 
happiness lies in lucid waters and lush mountains as the city is pushing ahead 
with sophisticated urban governance, enabling a forest coverage rate of 66.83 
percent. Hangzhou has three world cultural heritage sites, namely the West 
Lake, the Grand Canal and the Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City. People 
living in the ancient capital of Hangzhou with a history of over one thousand 
years can experience the high-quality ecological life in the full enjoyment of 
nature every day.

The city's historical reputation and scientific and orderly modern governance 
have jointly lifted Hangzhou's happiness competitiveness. Not long ago, several 
foreign media organizations pointed out in their publications that Hangzhou, a 
city full of natural scenery and modern civilization, has been the source of 
inspiration for China's vitality in the past one thousand years.

Hangzhou's happiness is undoubtedly diversified, and these sources of happiness 
are only some of them. Diverse senses of happiness are integrated into the 
subtle texture of Hangzhou, shaping people's daily happy life.

Source: The 2019 China Happy Cities Forum