In the summer of 2006, measurements of the mixing state of non-volatile particles were carried out at a suburban site of Beijing in the North China Plain by using a VTDMA. In this study, we perform an in-depth analysis of VTDMA results, focusing on the following topics: (1) comparison of the mixing state of soot measured by a VTDMA and the aerosol hygroscopicity mixing state determined by a CCN (cloud condensation nuclei) counter; (2) diurnal variation and evolution of soot mixing state at different size ranges; (3) calculation of k_ex→in and the influence of emissions on it; and (4) potential parameterization methods.