Nitrogen doping of activated carbon (AC) was performed by annealing both in ammonia and nitric oxide, and the activities of the modified carbons for NO reduction were studied in the presence of oxygen. Results show that nitrogen atoms were incorporated into the carbons, mostly in the form of pyridinic nitrogen or pyridonic nitrogen. The effect of nitrogen doping on the activities of the carbons can be ignored when oxygen is absent, but the doped carbons show desirable activities in the low temperature regime (≤500 ℃) when oxygen is present. The role of the surface nitrogen species is suggested to promote the formation of NO2 in the presence of oxygen, and NO2 can facilitate decomposition of the surface oxygen species in the low temperature regime.