¹⁵N micro-plot experiment was conducted in Yixing city of Taihu Lake area to study characteristics of soil and fertilizer N uptake in Wuyunjing 23 (W23), Zhendao 11 (Z11) and Wuyujing 3 (W3) before and after rice heading stage, N residue in soil and environmental N losses. W23 and Z11 were cultivated recently and planted widely as high-grain rice varieties, while W3 was earlier bred with relatively lower yield. The results showed that W23 and Z11 accumulated obviously greater total N, soil N and fertilizer N than W3 did during whole growth stage. There was no difference in accumulations of 3 kinds of N for these rice cultivars before heading stage. W23 and Z11 had stronger ability in absorbing soil and fertilizer N than W3 after heading stage, especially for fertilizer N. The uptake of N from soil by W23 and Z11 was increased by 89.3%–134% and by 119%–157% from fertilizer compared with W3. Increase in N application rate enhanced uptake of N from soil by W23 and Z11 before heading stage, but did not affected N uptake from soil and fertilizer after heading stage. There were no significant differences in soil N residues of fertilizer N detected by ¹⁵N trace method, total N, alkali-hydrolyzable N, NH₄⁺ -N and NO₃^– -N in cultivated soil among various rice varieties at N1 and N2 levels. W23 and Z11 were environment-friendly rice cultivars under the same N application rate due to less N losses into environment compared with W3.