Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu province, ranked the top of the 2016 China Foodie Happiness Index released by Meituan-Dianping Data Research Institute.

Nanjing has the highest score due to its excellent performance on offering foodies a more relaxed dining environment and reasonable prices.

Let's take a look at the top 10 cities for foodies:

10.Shenyang

Happiness index for foodies: 93.6

Shenyang is known for its long history and abundant ethnic group culture. The Man-Han Banquet is a feast most representative of traditional dishes in Shenyang. Because of its unique cultural history, many unique and exquisite snacks originated here, such as Muslim and Manchu snacks.

9. Suzhou

Happiness index for foodies: 94.0

Suzhou is an amazing city for sightseeing as well as a paradise for gourmets. Suzhou cuisine features delicate preparations focusing on ingredient quality.

8.Shanghai

Happiness index for foodies: 94.4

Shanghai, a developed city in China, also boasts numerous delicious restaurants and fast food delivery systems. Some of Shanghai's main dishes include Da Zha Xie, Smoked Fish Slices, Shanghai pepper duck, Beggars Chicken, Red-Cooked Chicken and Xiao Long Bao.

7.Hangzhou

Happiness index for foodies: 94.8

When people think of Hangzhou, the first thing that comes to mind is the picturesque West Lake. Typical of southern Chinese cuisine, many of Hangzhou's dishes have names inspired by scenic spots around West Lake, such as West Lake Assorted Feast.

6.Shaoxing

Happiness index for foodies: 95.1

Shaoxing cuisine focuses on maintaining the cooking methods known as "mould", "sauce" and "drunk". Moreover, Shaoxing is known for its snacks.

5.Xiamen

Happiness index for foodies: 96.7

Because of its location, Xiamen is famous for its extremely fresh seafood. Moreover, food from other Chinese cities also can be found here, making Xiamen one of the best destinations for gourmets.

4.Guangzhou

Happiness index for foodies: 96.9

Guangzhou's cuisine is unique among all types of Chinese cuisines for its ingredients, cooking methods and flavorings. Guangzhou's cuisine puts an emphasis on seafood with unique and mixed flavors. One flavoring is a mixture prepared from onions, garlic, sugar, salt and spices.

3.Shenzhen

Happiness index for foodies: 96.9

Shenzhen, a typical immigrant city, offers you a variety of cuisines from China and the world over, including Thai cuisine, Vietnam cuisine, Japanese cuisine, Indonesian Cuisine and many Western-style foods. Of all the cities on the list, Shenzhen has the highest restaurant density, and foodies there have the widest choice of cooking styles.

2.Beijing

Happiness index for foodies: 99.2

As the capital of China and a metropolis with a population of more than 20 million, Beijing is also a converging point for various delicacies from all over China, and even from all over the world. You can almost find whatever cuisine you like here. There are two famous Chinese Imperial cuisine restaurants in Beijing; the respectable Fang Shan in Beihai Park and Ting Li Ting in the Summer Palace.

1.Nanjing

Happiness index for foodies: 100

Nanjing's cuisine is also referred to as Jing-Su cuisine. Many famous restaurants provide delicious Nanjing dishes, such as Lao Zheng Xing Restaurant, Ma Xiang Xing Restaurant and Da San Yuan Restaurant. Additionally, there are three famous food streets in Nanjing: Shiziqiao Food Street (Lion's Bridge), Fuzimiao Street and Hanfu Street.

Source: china.org.cn