In situ measurements of the physical, chemical, and optical properties of aerosols were carried out in Guangzhou city, China, from 1 to 31 July 2006 during the Pearl River Delta (PRD) Campaign. The light extinction coefficient of the ambient atmosphere, the aerosol scattering coefficient under dry conditions, the aerosol absorption coefficient under ambient conditions, NO2 concentration, and relative humidity (RH) were measured by transmissionmeter, an integrating nephelometer, a multi-angle absorption photometer (MAAP), a NOX analyzer, and an automatic meteorological station, respectively. Meanwhile, the molecular scattering coefficient was calculated by the Rayleigh scattering function using the US Standard Atmosphere. A method to calculate the aerosol hygroscopic growth factor f(RH), defined as the ratio of the aerosol scattering coefficient under a wet condition to that under a dry condition (40% RH), is proposed based on these optical parameters. The mean and standard deviation aerosol hygroscopic growth factors at 80% RH (f(RH)=80%) in Ganzhou were 2.04±0.28, 2.29±0.28, and 2.68±0.59 for urban aerosols, mixed aerosols, and marine aerosols, respectively, with the air mass classification being based on the air mass source region. The relationship between f(RH) and RH is fitted by empirical equations and the fitting parameters are calculated. The relationships between f(RH)=80% and total carbon mass fraction (TCF) in PM2.5, the water-soluble mass fraction (WSF) in PM10, and the sea-salt aerosol mass fraction (SSF) in PM10 reveal that the hygroscopic properties of the observed aerosol have a good positive correlation with the WSF and SSF, but have a negative correlation with the TCF.