This collage shows some of Qingdao's notable landmarks (clockwise): Qingdao skyline, St. Michael's Cathedral, Qingdao harbor by night, a temple at the base of Mount Lao and May Fourth Square. (Photo : Wikimedia)
Couples wanting to raise a family and retirees seeking for a vacation home may consider Qingdao as a top priority.
The recent China Livable Cities Research Report conducted by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has named Qingdao as the "most livable city in China," a recognition that was previously bestowed upon the area in 2012.
The study analyzed 29 indicators based on six perspectives, namely, access to public services, social and humanistic environment, safety, natural environment, environmental health hazards, and public transport.
Located in eastern Shandong Province and home to more than 9 million people, Qingdao scored the highest in all six categories.
The cities of Weihai, Sanya, Kunming and Dalian join Qingdao in the top five.
"Kunming's ranking benefits from its pleasant natural environment and characteristic cultural environment," wrote China Daily. "Sanya wins for its air quality and Dalian performs well in city safety and natural environment. Weihai, meanwhile, cracks the top five due to its natural and cultural environment."
Beijing was named as the least livable city in the country, primarily due to its worsening problem of air pollution.
"[A]mong four livability studies about Beijing in 2005, 2009, 2013 and 2015, the city continued to register poorer scores as time went on due to potential health hazards in the environment," CAS said in a press release. "Beijing scored higher than average in other aspects, especially in safety, overall social environment and transportation."
Taiyuan, Nanchang, Guangzhou and Harbin are also at the bottom of the list.
The report stressed that China "has a long way to go to build livable cities," as highlighted by the 59.92 percent average score of all 40 cities evaluated. The benchmark for livability is 60 points.
Zhang Wenzhong, a researcher at CAS and the report's main author, said that the assessment system excluded home prices on purpose to avoid possible hype by developers.
