The apparent surplus and deficiency of soil N in winter wheat-summer maize rotation were investigated under different N application rates (N0, N100, N180, N255, N330) in consecutive six years in Qingyuan, Hebei. Results showed that the cumulative apparent nitrogen balances changed from the deficit in N0 and N100 treatments to the surplus in N180, N255 and N330 treatments, which reached up to 382, 1 173 and 2 116 kg/hm2, respectively. The large annual variations of the apparent N balances were found, but the differences of the N balances between the two crops were small, which were 155 kg/hm2 and 134 kg/hm2, respectively. Meanwhile, it was observed that the apparent soil N balances were negatively correlated with the changes of soil inorganic N and the precipitation, but positively correlated with N application rates. In addition, the apparent soil N surplus in the earlier stage and deficit in the later stage during the growing seasons of winter wheat and summer maize were observed. These findings above indicated that reasonable N recommendation should be established from two aspects including soil apparent N balance and N allocation within a growing season.