The general large-scale synthesis of a family of single-crystalline transition metal tungstate nanorods/nanowires is easily realized by a hydrothermal crystallization technique under mild conditions using cheap and simple inorganic salts as precursors. Uniform tungstate nanorods/nanowires such as MWO4 (M = Zn, Mn, Fe), Bi2WO6, Ag2WO4, and Ag2W2O7 with diameters of 20-40 nm, lengths of up to micrometers, and controlled aspect ratios can be readily obtained by hydrothermal transformation and recrystallization of amorphous particulates. This novel and efficient pathway toward various kinds of related low-dimensional tungstate nanocrystals under mild conditions could open new opportunities for further investigating the novel properties of tungstate materials.