The pyrolysis characteristics and kinetics of α-cellulose were investigated using thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) and micro tubing reactor, respectively. Most of the α-cellulose decomposed between 250 and 400 ℃ at heating rate of 5-20 ℃/min. The apparent activation energy was observed in the range of 263.02 kJ mol-1 to 306.21 kJ mol-1 at the conversion of 10-80%. The kinetic parameters were determined by nonlinear least-squares regression of the experimental data, assuming first-order kinetics. It was found from the kinetic rate constants that the predominant reaction pathway was A(α-cellulose) to B(bio-oil) rather than A(α-cellulose) to C(gas; C1-C4) and/or to B(bio-oil) to C(gas; C1-C4) at temperatures of 340-360 ℃.