ZnO nanorods with diameters ranging from 25 to 88 nm and with length up to 1 mu m were obtained via citric acid-assisted annealing route. The sample was characterized by X-ray diffraction, field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), Raman spectrometer, FTIR spectrophotometer, ultraviolet visible (UV-VIS) spectroscopy, and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. It demonstrates that the sample is composed of ZnO with hexagonal structure and the ZnO nanorods are of excellent optical quality.