This comparative research was designed to investigate the knowledge on the occupational abilities of 1345 secondary school physical education teachers from Hong Kong (n=513), Beijing (n=151), Shanghai (n=174), Guangzhou (n=192), Fuzhou (n=131) and Suzhou (n=184). The results indicate that the ability of teaching, organizing, training, and self-study were consistently considered as the most important factors for the secondary school physical education teachers. The physical education teachers from Hong Kong paid more attention to the ability of self-study than those from Inland China. Teachers from both Hong Kong and Inland China did not pay much attention to research and aesthetic abilities.[Copyright © 2001 The Hong Kong Institute of Education.]