Objective To learn about the knowledge status of AIDS and its influencing factors among residents in different province of China, and to provide evidence to the prevention and control of AIDS. Method First, we used multi-stage sampling method to indentify the research objects, second, we obtained information through questionaires, third, we used test and logistic regression to get the differences on the knowledge status on AIDS and its influencing factors. Results In this survey, a total of 4372 valid questionaires(2291 family households) were taken back, and the respondents aged mainly concentrated in 33 to 44 years. About 34.13% of the respondents knew the AIDS window period, 57.72% could distinguish patients with HIV and AIDS. The awareness rates of sexual transmission route and the blood-borne transmission route were relatively high, which were 93.12% an 89.84% respectively, and the awareness rate of non-transmission route was low. The differences between the above were statistically significant. The factors influencing the knowledge on AIDS were: different provinces, migrant people, degree of education and watching TV in four weeks. Conclusions The respondents lacked of basic knowledge on AIDS and had little knowledge on the awareness and preventive measures. The basic knowledge on AIDS was different between different provinces in China.