Using the hourly black carbon (BC) mass concentration and the meteorological data from 2007 to 2018 at Lin’an (LA) station, Shangdianzi (SDZ) station, Longfengshan (LFS) station, and Waliguan (Mt. WLG) station, 4 typical baseline stations in China, the characteristics of spatial and temporal variations of BC are evaluated in eastern and western China. Combined with the Aethalometer model and the concentration weighted trajectory (CWT) model, the source types and potential source areas of BC are identified. The results are illustrated below. (1) The BC mass concentrations show large fluctuation, referred to as the “high in the east and low in the west” geographical distribution. The annual mean BC mass concentrations at each site are (3 553±2 336) ng·m^-3 (LA), (2 045±1 918) ng·m^-3 (SDZ), (1 966±2 104) ng·m^-3 (LFS), and (455±380) ng·m^-3(Mt. WLG). (2) The seasonal variation of BC mass concentration is characterized differently in the east and west of China. In the east, the BC mass concentration is the highest in winter, followed by autumn and spring, and the summer has the lowest BC mass concentration; while in the west, it shows the seasonal variation of BC in the order of spring＞summer＞winter＞autumn. Meanwhile, the diurnal variation is observed. The eastern stations are dominated by the bimodal pattern, whereas the western station (Mt. WLG) is a high-altitude station with a pattern of “high in the daytime and low at night”. During the study period, the BC mass concentrations show a significant decline trend of interannual variation, reflecting the effectiveness of air pollution control in China. (3) The proportion of BC sources is dominated by the burning of liquid fuels (BC_liquid). The proportion of BC_liquid in summer is higher than that in winter influenced by winter heating. (4) The effect of surface wind fields on BC mass concentrations varies between seasons due to the East Asian monsoon, as well as the potential sources. In winter, the BC in eastern stations mostly comes from the surrounding urban agglomerations with a large scale of high values; in summer, it tends to originate from the southern part of each station. In summer, the high potential source areas of the western station (Mt. WLG) are the northern Sichuan urban agglomerations, while in winter, the BC is mainly from the surrounding areas of Lanzhou in China and northern India.