The rapid economic development has caused serious air pollution in the past 40 years. PM_2.5 is one of main air pollutants, examination of its spatial and temporal distribution is an important prerequisite for its prevention and control. Based on remote-derived PM_2.5 concentration date set, this study explored the spatio-temporal distribution characteristic of PM_2.5 concentration in China from 2000 to 2015, and analyzed the annual difference of PM_2.5 concentration between urban areas and corresponding rural areas of 1376 towns according to their boundary. Furthermore, we calculated the rate and significance of interannual variation of PM_2.5 concentration for each town using linear trend analysis method. The results showed that the proportion of area with PM_2.5 concentration higher than 35 μg/m³ increased from 18.58% to 32.03%, and lower than 15 μg/m³ decreased from 43.92% to 25.12% during the study period. The most severely polluted areas were located in Tarim Basin, south of Hebei Province, north of Henan Province, and west of Shandong Province. In addition, PM_2.5 concentration increased significantly in most towns in China from 2000 to 2015, especially in the Northeast Plain, southwest of Hebei Province located to the east of Taihang Mountain, Beijing, Tianjin, Tangshan located to the south of Yanshan Mountain, Mountains and Hills in central and south of Shandong Province and the surrounding Plains, and north of Jiangsu Province in North China Plain. The difference of PM_2.5 concentration between urban areas and rural areas is large in two northeast-southwest S-shaped belts in Hebei and Shanxi Province, Zhejiang-Fujian Province belt, and oasis area located to the north of Tianshan Mountain. In this study, we identified the area with high PM_2.5 concentration, high rate of increase of PM_2.5 concentration, and intense effect of urban areas on surrounding rural areas, providing some scientific basis to further control the haze pollution in China.