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Mutton industry plays an important role in Xinjiang animal husbandry in China, and Duolang Sheep is a widely distributed mutton sheep breed in Xinjiang with many advantageous traits including tolerance to rough feed and high meat quality. Rumen microbiota has been associated with various production phenotypes in livestock industry, but little is known about the composition of ruminal microbiota of Duolang Sheep. This study aims to compare characteristics of rumen bacterial community of Duolang Sheep and Hu Sheep using 16s RNA sequencing technique. Ruminal fluid samples were obtained via rumen cannula from 12 healthy Duolang Sheep and 12 healthy Hu Sheep under the same feeding and management protocol. The results showed that the relative abundance of Firmicutes (P<0.01), Oscillospiraceae (P<0.05), UCG-011 (P<0.01), Christensenellaceae (P<0.05), F082 (P<0.05), Ruminococcaceae (P<0.05), NK4A214 group (P<0.05), Christensenellaceae R7 group (P<0.01) and Ruminococcus (P<0.05) was significantly higher in Duolang Sheep, while the rumen of Hu Sheep contained significantly higher level of Bacteroidetes (P<0.05), Proteobacteria (P<0.05), Patescibacteria (P<0.05), Prevotellaceae (P<0.05), and Prevotella (P<0.05). Lower level of ruminal bacterial diversity was detected in Duolang Sheep represented by difference in Simpson Index (P<0.01). In addition, principal coordinate analysis revealed significant dissimilarity (P<0.01) between the rumen microbiota of the two breeds. The relative abundance of phylum Firmicutes and associated bacterial taxa in Duolang Sheep may be related to its higher level of feed efficiency and meat quality.