Slow city

Cittaslow International, literally Slow City, was founded in Tuscany, Italy in 1999. It is a sister organization of Slow Food. Cittaslow has resisted the fast-lane, homogenized world so often seen in other cities. It celebrates diversity of culture and specialties of a town.

Snail is also used by Cittaslow as an icon for slow cities. Currently, there are 135 accredited slow cities in 24 countries around the world.

At the end of 2010, Yaxi in Gaochun County, east China's Jiangsu Province, was given the title of "slow city" by Cittaslow. It is the first Chinese region accredited by Cittaslow.

The tiny town, with a population of just 20,000, has 49 square km of fields for organic tea, Chinese herbs and orchards.

When Angelo Vassallo, Vice President of Cittaslow, visited Yaxi for the first time, he was deeply impressed by local natural and cultural resources, said Zuo Niansheng, Editor in Chief of local newspaper, Gaochun Today.

Most Chinese cities, with their large populations, are disqualified from this title by one criterion of Cittaslow. "The criterion is very selective at the moment, and no town or city with more than 50,000 residents can be called a slow city," said Cittaslow Chairman Pier Giorgio Oliveti.

Wang Hongtao, a resident in Yaxi, told China Daily he probably had a higher happiness index than those living in big cities like Beijing or Shanghai.  

That is probably true. Last October, national TV broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) rated China's happiest cities, and many affluent but fast-paced cities such as Guangzhou and Shenzhen were not on the list.

CCTV's rating is based on a survey on residents in 104 cities and 300 county seats all over the country. A total of 88,000 questionnaires were returned.