A bird's-eye view of Qingdao, East China's Shandong province, at night. [Photo/VCG]

The eastern coastal city of Qingdao, Shandong province ranked seventh on a list of Chinese cities with the highest "good life" index, according to a report recently released by the China Philanthropy Research Institute of Beijing Normal University and the China Global Philanthropy Institute.

The good life index compares the standard of living among the country's major cities based on seven indicators, including housing, income, jobs, education, life satisfaction, and work-life balance.

Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, Shenzhen, Guangdong province, and Beijing took the top three spots on the list.

Also included on the list were Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, Shanghai, Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu province, Jinan, capital of Shandong province, Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, and Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province.

The index shows that Beijing, Shenzhen, and Shanghai are the strongest in terms of employment and wages, while Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Nanjing, and Qingdao have great potential.

Shenzhen ranked first in terms of per capita GDP, per capita fiscal expenditure, and urban gross employment rate.

Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Nanjing, and Qingdao followed Shenzhen to round out the top five in terms of per capita GDP.

In terms of health facilities, Qingdao ranked second with 12.2 hospitals per 100,000 people. It ranked third in terms of culture and tourism and fourth in terms of public facilities and natural environment.