Abstract: With the development of urban water systems restoration, old cities renewal and urban histories renaissance, urban historical water system restoration has attracted a lot of attention from society in recent years. Hence, how to combine historical water system restoration with urban planning and design system has become an important issue. Toward this aim, this paper presented planning objectives, indicators, implementation approaches and work flows for urban historical water system restoration through literature review, historical map analysis, case application and so on. We investigated and evaluated the evolution and current situation of water system (i.e.,“one longitudinal and five horizontal”) in the old city of Changchun. Also, the priority ranking of the water system restoration was listed on the basis of findings from the retention rates of the water system, the water quality, the historical and cultural value and so on. Furthermore, we proposed some restoration strategies such as improving the water quality, strengthening the water pattern, revitalizing the waterfront public space and improving public participation. This paper may provide references for historic cities in other parts of China.