Qingdao has won first prize at the 2011 Chinese Cities of Leisure and Chinese Coastal Cities of Leisure.

The evaluation campaign is now the country's biggest and most important selection activity of its kind. A total of 1,552,792 netizens voted. According to their voting and experts evaluation, Qingdao is the first among the 30 Cities of Leisure.

The campaign evaluated the city's achievements in environment, culture, leisure activities, transportation, charity, tourism and food. It is also the first time to evaluate residents' livelihood.

The other Top 10 cities were Hangzhou, Chengdu, Yantai, Sanya, Mount Huangshan, Shanghai, Ningbo, Qinhuangdao and Xi'an.

According to the city's tourism bureau, the quality of services has developed fast in the city. The city announced its goal to build an international costal tourism center and sea sports center in the second half of this year, targeting at becoming China's best tourism destination.

Qingdao has been described by tourists and netizens as a city with blue sky, white cloud, ancient architecture, green trees, golden beaches and a blue sea.

According to their voting, many travelers liked the city's ancient buildings and Zhanqiao Bridge, saying it was like living in a European city.

(Wang Yuanyuan, Zhang Ying)