In this paper, a single crystalline GaN grown on Si(1 1 1) is reported using a GaN buffer layer by a simple vacuum reactive evaporation method. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), photoluminescence measurement (PL), and Hall measurement results indicate that the single crystalline wurtzite GaN was successfully grown on the Si(1 1 1) substrate. The surface of the GaN films is flat and crack-free. A pronounced GaN(0 0 0 2) peak appears in the XRD pattern. The full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of the double-crystal X-ray rocking curve (DCXRC) for (0 0 0 2) diffraction from the GaN epilayer is 30 arcmin. The PL spectrum shows that the GaN epilayer emits light at the wavelength of 365 nm with an FWHM of 8 nm (74.6 meV). Unintentionally doped films were n-type with a carrier concentration of 1.76 x 10(18)/cm(3) and an electron mobility of 142 cm(3)/V s. The growth technique described was simple but very powerful for growing single crystalline GaN films on Si substrate.