Abstract: In order to find out the relationship of appearance characters with its main chemical components and smoking quality of flue-cured tobacco,127 middle leaves of flue-cured tobacco were sampled from Xuanwei County in Yunnan Province,their appearance characters and smoking quality were evaluated and their main chemical components were determined.The results showed that the correlations between tobacco leaf color,oil and its main chemical compositions were higher,and the correlations between leaf maturity and its main chemical compositions the next.Darker leaf related to higher nicotine content and lower starch content.The total sugar contents dropped but starch contents raised with the increase of leaf oil.Leaf oil presented higher correlations with its smoking quality than did leaf maturity,color,and body.The direct contribution of leaf color to smoke thickness was the biggest;that of oil to flavor type score,smoke glomeration,dryness and sweetness,aroma quality and quantity,aftertaste,offensive odor,total panel test score was the biggest;that of leaf maturity to smoke irritation and softness was the biggest.For Xuanwei tobacco, "oily" to "oily+" leaf with "moderate-" to "moderate" body has the best intrinsic quality,and the former is the key factor influencing smoking quality.