Abstract: Objective\ 1.To explore the role of environmental factors in the development and maintenance of hypertension . 2. To establish a hypertensive model without surgical or pharmacologic intervention. Methods\ One hundreds male, 2\|3\|month\|old Wistar rats were randomly divided into 4 groups: 1. Cold\|treated group（C, \%n\%=28）: animals were exposed to cold （4±2）℃ for 4 hours per day for 8 weeks; 2. High salt\|treated group （S, \%n\%=28）: animals were given 8% NaCl diets for 8 weeks. 3. Cold combined high salt\|treated group （CS, \%n\%=28）.\ Animals were given 8% NaCl diets for 8 weeks besides cold exposure. 4. Control group （N, \%n\%=16）. Systolic blood pressure（SBP, Tail\|cuff technique） and heart rate were measured weekly in 4 groups throughout the experiment. The thoracic aortas were extracted for morphologic studies. Results\ On the end of the first week, the average SBP and heart rate of C, S, and CS group were sighificantly increased （\%P\%＜0 01） than that of the N group. Blood pressure reached a maximal level by 3 weeks in C, S, and CS group （127.0±6.0, 125.9±5.5, 131±6.0）mmHg, respectively, SBP remained significantly elevated for the remaining of the experiment. Conclusion\ Cold circumstance and high\|salt intake play an important role in the development of hypertension. This model appears to be a successful model for the induction of hypertension in rats without surgical intervention or excessive doses of hormones.