【Objective】 To meet the demands of landscape cultivars with colorful foliage, Betula platyphylla, a native birch species growing in northeast China has been cultivated widely. 【Mothed】With B. pendula ‘Purple Rain’ as female and B. platyphylla as male parent, a newly released variety of Betula pendula ‘Zixia 1’ exhibits strong cold hardiness. 【Result】 ‘Zixia 1’ is obtained through a series of breeding steps including crosses, family and individual selections. The main ornamental characteristics of ‘Zixia 1’ have gray white trunk, reddish brown branches and purple leaves. The leaves are changed with the seasons. All leaves are purple in spring, green in summer, purple in early autumn and dark purple pink in late autumn. 【Conclusion】 The cultivar ‘Zixia 1’ grows best in slightly acid to neutral loam in Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning Provinces.