Abstract: Objective To investigate the epidemiological characteristics of hepatitis C and the genotypes of hepatitis C virus ( HCV) in Chenzhou, Hunan Province, China, and to analyze the difference in HCV RNA load between genotype 1 patients and non- genotype 1 patients. Methods Sixty hepatitis C patients with positive HCV RNA, who were from Chenzhou and received initial treatment in our hospital from March 2012 to March 2013, were included in the study. HCV RNA load and HCV genotypes were determined, and these patients were divided into genotype 1 group and non- genotype 1 group. The two groups were compared in terms of viral load. Continuous data were analyzed by t test if they were normally distributed and by rank sum test if they were not normally distributed. Results Among the 60 patients, 7 HCV genotypes were found, i. e., 1b, 3b, 6a, 3a, 2a, 2a + 3a, and 5a. Genotype 1b was the most frequent genotype, found in 25 cases ( 41. 6%) , followed by 3b and 6a ( 11 cases, 18. 3% for each) , 3a ( 6 cases, 10%) , 2a ( 4 cases, 6. 6%) , 2a +3a ( 2 cases, 3. 3%) , and 5a ( 1 case, 1. 7%) . In the genotype 1 group, 1 case had an HCV RNA level of ≤104IU / ml, 4 cases had HCV RNA levels of 104-105IU / ml, 10 cases had HCV RNA levels of 105- 106IU / ml, and 10 cases had HCV RNA levels of 106- 107IU / ml. In the non- genotype 1 group, 1 case had an HCV RNA level of ≤104IU / ml, 6 cases had HCV RNA levels of 104- 105IU / ml, 18 cases had HCV RNA levels of 105- 106IU / ml, 8 cases had HCV RNA levels of 106- 107IU / ml, and 2 cases had HCV RNA levels of ≥108IU / ml. There was no significant difference in HCV RNA load between the two groups ( Z =- 0. 302, P = 0. 763) . Conclusion In Chenzhou, genotype 1b is the major HCV genotype, followed by 3b and 6a, and other genotypes include 3a, 2a, 5a, and 2a /3a. The HCV RNA load shows no significant difference between genotype 1 patients and non- genotype 1 patients.