In order to get information on the use of antibiotics in rural areas, 300 hospitalized patients were randomly selected from a rural hospital of Guangdong province and investigated for antibiotic use. The rate of antibiotic use in the hospitalized patients was 86.7 %; the four antibiotics at the top of the list were penicilins, cephalosporins, quinolones and macrolide. The rate of combined use of antibiotics was 68.46%. The culture of bacteria was carried out in only 4.62% of the patients and no antimicrobial susceptibility test was conducted. It is concluded that the antibiotics were not used in rational fashion in the rural hospital.