Abstract: In order to identify the key appearance indexes affecting the intrinsic quality of upper flue-cured tobacco leaves from different producing areas, upper leaf samples with quality gradients from 5 ecological secondary regions in China were prepared, and the relationships of appearance characteristics with chemical components and sensory quality of upper leaves in different ecological regions were analyzed. The results showed that: 1) There were significant differences in the scores of most appearance characteristic indexes of upper leaves from different ecological regions. 2) Within a certain range, the fullness of aroma and the content (mass fraction) of total N increased, while the sugar/nicotine ratio and the contents (mass fractions) of sugar and starch decreased with the deepening of leaf color. With the improvement of softness and oily level or when the body was moderate, the aroma quality and sensory pleasurableness were improved and the sugar content and sugar/nicotine ratio increased. 3) Random forest characteristic analysis revealed that the key appearance characteristic indexes affecting the sensory quality of upper tobacco leaves from the ecological regions in central and western Henan Province were body, oily level and maturity; those for leaves from the ecological regions in southern Hunan were leaf structure, body and color; those for leaves from the eastern Yunnan were softness, leaf structure and color; those for leaves from the southeastern Chongqing were oily level, leaf structure and maturity. The key appearance indexes affecting the sensory quality of upper tobacco leaves were different in different ecological regions.