The breeding of foxtail millet in Northeast China has undergron a change from landraces to cultivars, but the changes in specific phenotpic traits are not yet clear. In this study, 120 foxtail millet varieties which contain landraces and cultivars were evaluated through phenotypic identification and diversity analysis of traits in Aohan. Main conclusions are as follows: Varieties with green color of seedling and leaf sheath, panicle of fusiform and loose, yellow color of grain and hulless grain was major typical model of foxtial millet in Northeast China. Compared with the landraces, the cultivated varieties were late maturing, large biomass and high yield. Mainly manifested in the times from seedling emergence to heading, to flowering, and to maturity, and the times from sowing to maturity of the cultivars were extremely significantly longer than those of the landraces (P<0.01). And the diameter of the main stem, the number of leaves and the width of the flag leaf of the cultivars were extremely significantly more than those of the the landraces (P<0.01). And the main panicle weight and the number of seeds in main panicle of the cultivars were extremely significantly more than those of the landraces (P<0.01), grain weight of main panicle and yield of the cultivars were significantly more than those of the landraces (P<0.05). But the 1000-grain weight of the landraces was extremely significantly higher than that of the cultivars (P<0.01). It shows that the yield increasing of the cultivars mainly depends on the increasing of the number of seed in main panicle. Phenotypic genetic diversity analysis found that the rank of average genetic diversity index was that yield traits (2.0063) > the morphological traits (1.9655) > the growth periods (1.7238) > the quality traits (0.6370). The genetic diversity index of glume color, grain color, and hulless grain color of the landraces were significantly higher than that of the cultivars. The genetic diversity index of other traits of the landraces were not very different from that of the cultivars, indicating that the color of grain and hulless grain was becoming more and more consistent in the process of foxtail millet breeding. Based on the standardized data of 30 phenotypic traits, tested materials could divided into two categories, category I was a representative group of early-maturing and low yield varieties, and the color of seedling and hulless grain are all green and yellow, respectively. Category Ⅱ was a representative group of late-maturing and high yield varieties. There is no obvious correlation between the results of clustering and the source of the varieties. According to the phenotypic of the 10 main traits, the varieties with good performance were selected, which could provide reference for the breeding of foxtail millet in Northeast China.