Characterization of aerosols is required to reduce uncertainties in satellite retrievals of global aerosols and for modeling the effects of these aerosols on climate. Aerosols in the North China Plain (NCP) are complex, which provides a good opportunity to study key aerosol optical properties for various aerosol types. A cluster analysis of key optical properties obtained from Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) data in Beijing and Xianghe during 2001–11 was performed to identify dominant aerosol types and their associated optical properties. Five dominant aerosol types were identified. The results show that the urban/industrial aerosol of moderate absorption was dominant in the region and that this type varied little with season. Urban/industrial aerosol of weak absorption was the next most common type and mainly occurs in summer, followed by that strong aerosols occurring mainly in winter. All were predominantly fine mode particles. Mineral dust (MD) and polluted dust (PD) occurred mainly in spring, followed by winter, and their absorption decreased with wavelength. In addition, aerosol dynamics and optical parameters such as refractive index and asymmetry factor were examined. Results show that the size of coarse mode particles decreased with AOD indicating the domination of external mixing between aerosols.