In order to investigate the surface cell morphological characteristics of flue-cured leaves and their differences between growing areas in China, the surface microscopic images of C3F cured leaves collected from different typical growing areas were obtained by SEM, the area, perimeter and shape factor of cell were quantitatively analyzed with software and their relationships with appearance quality of cured leaves were discussed. The results showed that: 1) The surface cell morphology of cured leaves from different areas obviously differed and presented some regional specialities. The leaves from Guangdong and Fujian presented significantly larger cell area with relatively irregular cell shape; the surface cell of Liaoning and Henan leaves was relatively regular in shape, however the cell of Liaoning leaves was obviously smaller but more crispate, while the cell of Henan leaves was relatively larger but less crispate. The cell of Yunnan and Guizhou leaves was moderate in size, and the cell of Guizhou leaves was relatively irregular in shape. The cell of Sichuan and Hubei leaves was relatively smaller, and moderately regular in shape. 2) Cell area and perimeter correlated extremely significantly or significantly negatively with scores of leaf structure and oil, and cell shape was extremely significantly negatively correlated with the score of leaf body.