Concentrations of 12-hour averaged organic carbon (OC), elemental carbon (EC), and other trace elements were determined from bulk aerosol samples at a coastal city of Lian Yun Gang (LYG) in east China from June to December 2003 and a sandy land site of Tong Liao in northeast China from June to August 2003. Regional transports from four main source areas accounted for ~35--49% of the Asian dust and 16--18% of the carbonaceous particles for both sites. The regional mean concentrations of various species, especially EC, were comparable to or lower than those in urban areas of inland China, Korea, and Japan but tended to be higher than those in Hong Kong or rural sites in east Asia. At LYG, OC showed a clear seasonal pattern with a peak loading in winter (24 ¿g m-3) and a low in summer (10 ¿g m-3). Seasonality of EC was more pronounced than that of OC with a difference of approximately threefold (3.8 to 11 ¿g m-3). Three types of air masses with high particulate loadings were found to be responsible for the peak EC and low OC/EC ratios in winter. Clean air masses with more than 50% secondary organic carbon contents were largely of marine origins. Elemental concentrations (Ca, Fe, K, Mn, and Ti) were mainly associated with Asian dust aerosols with a certain fraction of K from biomass burning in mainland China characterized with a ratio of 1.3 for OC/K.