Rare earth elements (REE) patterns of dissolved phase, suspended materials and sediments in rivers were established based on data referred from recent studies and our work. There are a number of factors or processes such as basin geology, weathering, solution chemistry and water-particle interaction controlled the geochemical behavior of REE in rivers. These factors and processes induced partition and fractionation of REE between suspended particles and solution. The shale-normalized REE patterns of suspended particles in rivers showed moderate light-REE (LREE) enrichment, and the solution of river waters showed significant heavy-REE (HREE) enrichment or convex curves that middle-REE (MREE) slight enrichment piled upon the HREE enrichment. The partition coefficient of REE between the suspended particles and solution (K≈10-6) was smaller comparing with most of other trace metals in rivers. The sediments in rivers showed a flat shale-normalized REE patterns.