Abstract: Bismuth titanate powders doped with different amounts of lanthanum were synthesized by hydrothermal method using bismuth nitrate [Bi(NO<SUB>3</SUB>)<SUB>3</SUB>·5H<SUB>2</SUB>O],titanium tetrachloride （TiCl<SUB>4</SUB>）,and lanthanum nitrate [La(NO<SUB>3</SUB>)<SUB>2</SUB>·6H<SUB>2</SUB>O] as raw materials,and potassium hydroxide （KOH） acted as mineralizer.XRD and TEM were used to characterize prepared powders.Photocatalytic activity of the samples degrading methyl orange were investigated via UV-Vis.Results showed that anisotropic lanthanum-doped bismuth titanate （Bi<SUB>4-x</SUB>La<SUB>x</SUB>Ti<SUB>3</SUB>O<SUB>12</SUB>）nano-powders possessing short axis of 30 nm and long axis of more than 100 nm were obtained,under the condition of hydrothermal synthesis temperature of 220~280 ℃ and soaking time of&nbsp; 6 h.And&nbsp;Bi<SUB>4-x</SUB>La<SUB>x</SUB>Ti<SUB>3</SUB>O<SUB>12</SUB> powders had photocatalytic activity. 