By combining the cultivation methods with molecular fingerprinting techniques, the diversity surveys of soil bacterial community in 13 areas of China were carried out. The cultivable heterotrophic diversity was investigated by colony morphology on solid LB medium. Genetic diversity was measured as bands on denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis(DGGE) by the extraction and purification of the total soil DNA, and amplification of bacterial 16S rDNA fragments by polymerase chain reaction ( PCR). The Shannon-Wiener indices of diversity (H), richness (S)and evenness( EH ) were employed to estimate the diversity of soil bacterial community. The results showed that there was an obvious diversification existed in soil from the different areas. However, the genetic diversity estimated by PCR-DGGE can provide more comprehensive information on bacterial community than the cultivation-based methods. Therefore, it is suggested to combine the traditional methods with genetic fingerprinting techniques to survey and estimate soil bacterial diversity.