The 55 soil samples were collected from Shanghai urban areas in March 2007. The residues and distribution characteristics of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in the soil samples were investigated with gas chromatography. The results showed that HCHs, DDTs, and HCB were in the ranges of nd-38.58 microg x kg(-1), 1.81-79.61 microg x kg(-1) and 0.16-40.25 microg x kg(-1), respectively. The total OCPs concentrations in urban soil of Shanghai ranged from 3.12 microg x kg(-1) to 91.07 microg x kg(-1) with a mean of 22.33 microg x kg(-1), and the p,p'-DDE took over 60% of the total OCPs. The main contaminated areas were distributed in the park and greenbelts. The composition of OCPs indicated that OCPs in soil samples mainly came from historical application. Compared to the reference data, the pollution burden in soil of Shanghai was lower than those in other areas of China and in German, Argentina and Poland.