In this paper, long-chain surfactant cetyl sodium sulfate was used to modify alumina particles for the first time. Alumina particle-stabilized foams were prepared by mechanical agitation of suspensions with solid loading of 8~40 wt%. The wet foams were dried at normal temperature and pressure and subsequently sintered at 1550 °C for 2 h and finally light weight alumina ceramic foams with density of 76~355 kg/m3 (namely porosity of 91.1%~98.1 %) were prepared. Effects of pH value and cetyl sodium sulfate concentration and solid loading on the stability of alumina wet foams and properties of alumina ceramic fomas were studied. It was found that stable wet foams can be prepared and the strength of dried foams was improved effectivity by adding 0.2~1.0 wt% PVA.