<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the incidence of wheezing and chronic cough in childrenaged 3-14 years in different living areas of Zhongshan, China.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>According to the unified program of the 2010 national epidemiological survey of asthmatic childrenaged 0-14 years, a questionnairesurvey of the childrenaged 3-14 years in rural and urban areas of Zhongshan was conducted.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>A total of 15 763 children were included in the survey. Among all participants, 8 248 were from the urban area, and 7 515 from the rual area; 8 306 were boys, and 7 457 were girls. The percentage of children with a history of wheezing was significantly higher in the urban group than in the rural group (6.6% vs 3.2%; P<0.05), and it was significantly higher in boys than in girls for each group (P<0.05). The urban group had a significantly higher percentage of individuals who had wheezing in the past one year than the rural group (2.8% vs 1.5%; P<0.05), and this percentage was significantly higher in boys than in girls for each group (P<0.05). Compared with the rural group, the urban group had a significantly higher percentage of individuals who had chronic cough (duration 1 year) (7.9% vs 3.1%; P<0.05). The above indices were relatively high in children under 6 years of age, and all but the percentage of girlswho had wheezing in the past one year in both rural and urban areas showed significant differences between all age groups.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The incidence of wheezing and chronic cough varies with age, sex, and living area for childrenaged 3-14 years in Zhongshan, and it is relatively high under 6 years of age, in the urban area, and among boys.</p>