China has had a long urban experience. The existence oftowns in China can be dated to 2600 BC, and the pattern of urbanmorphology were essentially different from those in other majorcultural regions, which represents one of the major forms of urbangrowth of the world. This paper describes the characteristics andhistorical development of Chinese urban morphology. The centrallocation of political and administrative buildings, a grid-iron streetpattern, symmetrical layout and axis are the most important charac-teristics of Chinese traditional cities, which reflected the distinctivepolitical and economic system and cultural traditions of China. Polit-ical forces play a key role in shaping this urban pattern. The histori-cal development of Chinese urban morphology experienced fourphases: the walled city (770 BC——AD 906), the open city (618——1840), the colonial city (1840——1949), and the modern city(1949——1985). Each of these phases has its distinct characteris-tics and different planning philosophies reflecting the current na-tional political and economic development. The central feature of ur-ban development in China is that the process has been controlledto a large extent by the highly centralized government. After 1949,Chinese cities experienced a fundamental transformation in their in-ternal structure and morphology which reflect the communist idealsin urban planning. The key aims of urban planning in communistChina is to establish a highly productive and convenient living envi-ronment, and to reduce the gaps between city and countryside in or-der to achieve a new type of socialist city with ’classless’ or ’uni-form socio-economic characteristic. China has had a long urban experience. The existence oftowns in China can be dated to 2600 BC, and the pattern of urbanmorphology were essentially different from those in other majorcultural regions, which represents one of the major forms of urbangrowth of the world. Describing the characteristics andhistorical development of Chinese urban morphology. The centrallocation of political and administrative buildings, a grid-iron streetpattern, symmetrical layout and axis are the most important charac-teristics of Chinese traditional cities, which reflected the distinctivepolicies and economic system and cultural traditions Of China. Polit-ical forces play a key role in shaping this urban pattern. The histori-cal development of Chinese urbanology experienced fourphases: the walled city (770 BC-AD 906), the open city (618-1840) , the colonial city (1840-1949), and the modern city (1949-1985). Each of these phases has its distinct characteris-tics and diffe The rent planning philosophies reflects the current na-tional political and economic development. The central feature of ur-ban development in China is that the process has been controlled to a large extent by the highly centralized government. After 1949, the Chinese cities experienced a fundamental transformation in Their in-ternal structure and morphology which reflect the communist idealsin urban planning. The key aims of urban planning in communistChina is to establish a highly productive and convenient living envi-ronment, and to reduce the gaps between city and countryside in or-der to Achieve a new type of socialist city with ’classless’ or ’uni-form socio-economic characteristic.