On the basis of the experiences and examples from thunder and lightning protection practice, the characteristics of lightning protection earthing electrodes are analyzed. The results show that reducing earth resistance is mainly through reducing the contact resistance of earthing electrodes and dispersed resistances; increasing the encircled area of a earthing electrode is advantageous to the reduction of earthing resistance; the shapes of compound earthing electrodes and the influence of screening effect in the earthing grid on earth resistance should be fully considered; the soil resistivity is affected by the soil property around the earthing body, the burying depth of earthing electrodes，and seasonal variation. The earthing electrodes are arranged along the edges of the earthing grid, and the electrodes are distributed sparsely in the grid with different earthing electrode lengths. Generally, the burying depth of a commonused earth body is between 1.5 m and 3.5 m, below the frozen earth level in North China. The frictionreducing agents with stable performance and the soil with low soil resistivity can be used around earth bodies so to reduce costs while filling the requirement for earth resistance.