Abstract: By using microscope technique and gas exchange method, the effects of light conditions on structure and photosynthetic characteristics of the leaves were studied with potted and fielded ‘Hanfu’ apple as materials. The results showed that the palisade tissue, spongy tissue and the total leaf thickness of ‘Hanfu’ apple was declined under the weak light environment, the palisade tissue were declined by 34.5% (pot) and 25.0% (field), and the total leaf thickness were declined by 27.1% (pot) and 18.3% (field). The light compensation point (LCP) of the field shading leaves was lowest (30.8±1.3 μmol·m^-2·s^-1), the saturation point (LSP) in full light was 22.7% (pot) and 48.2% (field) higher than in shading, respectively. The adaptability of the potted ‘Hanfu’ apple leaves built under different light conditions had different resistivity after exposing to high light, the startup time of maximum photosynthetic rates (15.4 μmol·m^-2·s^-1 in full light and 12.7 μmol·m^-2·s^-1 in shading) were different, which was 23 min and 33 min, respectively. Longtime shading impacted on the quality and photosynthetic capacity of ‘Hanfu’ apple leaves.