The Chinese horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus sinicus) is a typical cave-dwelling Chiropteran mainly distributed in China, with the crucial ecobiological research and conservation significance. In recent years, we made an investigation into its roosting ecological characteristics, and a total of 12942 individual-by-times (IBT) observed in the 16 karst caves in the Xiangxi Prefecture, Hunan Province, central-south China. Based on the related data analysis, the results showed that Rhinolophus sinicus was the dominant bat species in the Xiangxi Prefecture, with the habit of aggregating to hibernate in the karst caves. Their aggregation for hibernation started in the mid-to-late September, and began to wake up from hibernation in the late March of the following year. And their breeding places in summer were rather secluded, usually located in some inaccessible sections of the caves or other unwegsam caves. On the whole, their microhabitats were largely concentrated in the cave tunnels of 150-200 m from the nearest cave entrance (91.60% of the total number), with a height of 6-10 m from the cave ground (91.75%). They roosted prevailingly on the ceiling of caves by a body posture of upsidedown hanging by two feet and their claws with no adherence to any cave walls or other objects. There was no significant difference between their body and roostpoint temperature (P>0.05), but there was a markedly positive correlation (R²=0.8886). Their roosting safety was high in spring and summer, while medium-to-low in autumn and winter. R.sinicus, as the dominant species of cave-dwelling bats in this region, plays a critical important role in maintaining the stability of cave ecosystem. To strengthen the research on their umbrella-covering roles in cave ecosystem will be helpful to the scientific education of cave ecobiology and conservation practice of bat populations.