Well, If I had room for only one, I guess the Q. Rubra N. Red oak would be it. The branches will get thicker and not slope down. If you have room the Pin oak has great fall color for me as Beng has mentioned. The Nuttall's is a red oak family oak, and mine have still got their leaves on them although they are brownish red, I'm happy with them. I know fall color is nice to have, and is the reason some add certain trees to their yard, but, I have to say, I have a Quercus Velutina with great form, and it got kinda orange for a while this fall, one over the mountains had yellow fall color, but, the form of the tree was perfect, even if mine never has much fall color, I just love it's form, and can't wait for it to mature. I can't help but think that starting an oak from an acorn puts the tree at an advantage. I know they grow laterals etc. I know that they do, but, Dax sent me an acorn for a Burr oak, and I direct sowed the acorn, and I have seen articles saying Burr oak sometimes have taproots that go down 7 feet sometimes. Okay, whatever, maybe this one hasn't got a taproot that deep, but, I do know that, if there is a drought that lasts a while, I do not have to baby that seedling, and that Burr seedling doesn't have to take a year or 2 to replace roots instead of putting out growth. If I can choose, I'll choose direct sowing seed. I am going to direct sow Hickory seeds after seeing a post on here where the kid is holding a Hickory in a very long pot, and the taproot is longer than the pot. I am sure the trees will be okay in a rootmaker pot etc. But, I would rather keep that taproot in situ if I am not moving the seedling anyhoo, ya know? I am not knocking the way some peeps do it, but my choice is direct sow. There are situations it must be done in pots. Poaky1

Many of my oaks are small. My Compton's oak from 2010 is over my head, so about 5'8". Quercus Montana/prinus is 3 ft+ in good/moist soils per year. The Comptons near the house was evergreen last winter, sorry, I don't remember how the other 2 Comptons color was, but they were deciduous. I planted a Sawtooth oak about 4-5 years ago and it grew really fast, but I read that they don't live long and I cut it down. Chestnut oak is native and b eautiful but if you don't remove the acorns which it bears early, you will have many babies to relocate. They are edible after some processing. They are sweeter than red oak acorns though. If you can boil them a few times they will be perfect for making pastries with, just like other nuts. They may be okay to eat raw actually, I will have to try it. White oak family acorns are not as bitter as red oak acorns. My Chestnut oaks are very rapid growing, I have 2. The Chestnut oak have so far not had much fall color. My white oak Quercus alba have been puting out some 2ft+ yr growth lately. They've been in the ground for about 5-6 years though. One has put out about 4-5 ft this year. I have to get some pix loaded for that one.

Sorta on topic: IMO you should plan for 100 years or so out of your residence. Sure some homes in the city are older but most are in ridiculously bad shape or have been rehabbed extensively. My home was one of the first siding and wood subdivision rectangles. It is 67 years old and doing ok. Many others in the area are slightly newer but not quite right due to human neglect though. Another thirty years and its empty lot near derelict home time. And yeah, I know with maintenance homes can last longer. My neighbor helped rebuild this plantation home across the street. IMO if it was not a commercial venture it would have been time to let it fall. Amazing the problems in the nicest of homes from 1850.

I actually love Northern Red Oaks. (1) The Chinese city is a Southern coastal town of mildest climate. I think they should talk to city planners of Charleston SC before choosing exotic plants. There are so many in the tropical list. (2) I think they should buy seeds instead. (3) I link some images of Hangzhou. I have a hard time imagining the Northern Red Oaks in the landscape. However, it would be interesting to see :-) Here is a map showing the location of Hangzhou. It is a Southern coastal city with mild climate suitable for many exotic plants.