Abstract: Objective To analyze epidemic characteristics of secondhand smoke (SHS), public perception for hazard of tobacco, and attitude toward anti-smoking legislation in Guangdong, to provide sci-entific basis for tobacco control. Methods Randomized cluster sampling method was used to investigate families in 10 districts of 5 cities in Guangdong. Residents aged 15-69 were surveyed by using standard questionnaire, including smoking patterns, exposure to SHS, public perception for hazard of tobacco, and attitude toward anti-smoking legislation. Chi-square test was used to compare the difference of the rates. Results A total of 2121 valid questionnaires were retrieved. It showed that the smoking rate was 23.3% (494/2121) among the residents aged 15 or above, 42.4% (470/1108) for male and 2.4% (24/1013) for female (P<0.01). The rate in urban and rural areas were 20.4% (213/1046) and 26.1% (281/1075) (P<0.05) respectively. 63.8% (1038/1627) of nonsmokers were suffering from the exposure to SHS, including 63.2% (403/638) male and 64.2% (635/989) female. The rates of SHS exposure were 62.2% (518/833) in urban area and 65.5% (520/794) in rural area. 64.3% (667/1038) of passive smokers were exposed to SHS everyday. There was significant difference of the smoking rates in different types of places (P<0.01). The smoking rates were 61.6% (1306/2121), 59.8% (655/1096), and 78.7% (754/959) at house, work places and restaurants of the public places, respectively. Conclusion The exposure to SHS in public places, workplace, and home was severe in residents of Guangdong Province. So that KABP (knowledge, attitude, belief and practice) for tobacco control should be improved. Meanwhile, the anti-smoking legislation in work place and public places should be speeded up while promoting the cognition of SHS and creating smoke-free environment.