Objective To investigate the epidemiological characteristics of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) among the rural elderly peoples from Cili county, Hunan Province. Methods A multi-stage stratified cluster sampling method was adopted to subject the elderly aged 60 years or above living in the rural areas of Cili county from June to December 2011. After an interview was performed by trained interviewers to the sampled subjects for a general questionnaire and Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), those with distinct cognitive impairment or dysmnesia and those with the scores less than the cut-off point of MMSE received tests including physical examination, global deterioration scale, Hachinski ischemic scale, clinical dementia rating, and neurological examination. Then MCI was diagnosed by the consensus of 2 neurologists. Results There were 1 367 subjects (678 males and 689 females) sampled and interviewed. Among them, 178(13.02%) were positive to MMSE, and 139(10.17%) were diagnosed with MCI, and the prevalence of MCI as significantly different among the subjects of different ages, education levels, occupations, living and culture conditions and life styles (P＜0.05 for all). Conclusion The older age, the lower education level, smoking, non-drinker or non-alcoholic, and the living alone may increase the incidence of MCI among the rural elderly.