Abstract: Suburbanization is the new characteristics of contemporary Chinese urbanization, that remarked the internal structure of Chinese cities has changed to sparse multi-core structure from single core. Based on a questionnaire survey of Dalian citizens during July 1995, this thesis studies the characteristics, mechanisms and tendency of suburbanization of residence in Dalian City. The questionnaire investigation are made in four residential areas which are typical in period of construction, type of housing and mode of population growth respectively. Chunhai area which located in the old inner city is a typical worker residential area; Zhongcun area which was constructed in 1950’s is also a worker resident-tial one; The other two areas locate in the suburban area, but Linmao area is a cadre residential area and Paoya is a mixed resiential area with both workers and cadres (Fig. 2). Questionnaires were distributed through "street offices" to 400 households mainly composed of working couples and 357 adequate responses were collected and used in the study. Based upon the analyze of mobility, spatial patterns and causes of migration, the authors draw out the status quo and the micro mechanism of the surburbanization of residence. All of the candidates migrate 2. 11 times in average, with almost half of candidates migrate only once, which proves that the residents in Dalian City show a lower mobility. This characteristic of migration is tightly correlative with the causes of moving, that is, most of the migration in the research areas results from the achievement of home from DANWEI (working unit). There is a long way to go before Dalian City get into the stage when the resients are voluntarily to migrate to suburban area, because only about ten percent of candidates migrate voluntarily by house-purchasing or by pooling money to build houses. But what we should pay attention to is that the ratio of voluntary migration is rising in newly constructed residential area, such as Paoya. In the view of the spatial pattern of migration, the type of moving from the core area to the suburban areas is dominate. The tendency of suburbanization of residence can be drawn out from the investigation of intention of residential migration towards the suburban areas and the analyze of its potential motives. About 86 percent of candidates prefer to the core and the adjacent areas if possible, and none of them want to move to the outer suburban towns or villages. Therefore, Dalian City will suffer a hard time to guide residents to live scattered. In the future, the most important potential motives for Dalian City’s residents to migrate towards suburban areas consist of the dissatisfaction with the housing itself and its environment. In shore, Dalian City has already had some signs of suburbanization of residence since 1980s’ the renewal of the old city. The main characteristics of such suburbanization are most of the intra-urban migrations be forced or organized by DANWEI(working unit) and government but not voluntary for the residences themselves, and the destinations are the inner suburbs instead of the outer, then it can be said that now, Dalian City is in a transitional period of the urban internal residence structure. The process of moving from the older built-up area to inner suburb can be seen the first stage of suburbanization of residence. According to the master plan of the city, the process would be continuing till about 2010. When the constructions of newer residential areas in inner suburb be completed in future, the destinations of intra-urban migration should be the new city proper, and the distances of such moving will be prolonged and most migrations will be voluntary. The author considered that the new process would begin roughly at 2010 is the second stage of suburbanization of residence in Dalian City.