SHENZHEN residents have been invited to vote for the 10 Happiest Chinese Cities after the campaign’s organizers announced a shortlist of 35 mainland cities including Shenzhen, and published the criteria and standards for selection in major newspapers Thursday.
Votes can be cast online at www.lwdf.cn, www.szmg.com.cn and www.sznews.com. China Mobile and China Unicom users can send city serial numbers (see graphic) via mobile phone messages to 106623661 and 82881 respectively. Voting ends Sept. 10.
The selection of the 10 Happiest Chinese Cities, the first of its kind in China, is being organized by the Oriental Outlook Weekly, a magazine sponsored by Xinhua News Agency, Chinese Cities Development Report Working Committee under the China Mayors’ Association and Shenzhen Media Group.
The 35 shortlisted cities were selected based on happiness surveys conducted earlier this month. More than 200 cities in the country were surveyed.
The happiness index is based on three factors, namely residents’ attitudes toward their lives in terms of employment, income and social security; the quality of their lives in terms of housing, health insurance, the environment and education; the emotional state of individuals and how harmoniously they interact with each other and society.
Interviews with some Shenzhen residents by the Daily Sunshine show that many people are satisfied with employment, income levels, safety, the environment and education in Shenzhen. Yang Guang, a migrant worker, said he liked the city’s openness and a company owner said he liked Shenzhen because the city had abundant opportunities for growth and development.
The organizing committee will select the 10 cities based on votes from the public. The final list will be announced between Sept. 11 and 19 and press conferences and an awards ceremony will be held from Sept. 20 to 25 in Beijing. (Han Ximin)