The surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy and normal Raman spectroscopy of single living human nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells(CNE-1) were tested and analyzed by gold nanoparticles incubation into cells. Six obvious Raman bands (718, 1 001, 1 123, 1 336, 1 446 and 1 660 cm-1)were observed in the normal Raman spectroscopy of living CNE-1 cells. The characteristic Raman bands in the SERS spectra of living cells were tentatively assigned. Colloidal gold particles that were introduced inside cells result in strongly enhanced Raman signals of the native chemical constituents of the cells, and over twenty SERS Raman bands were observed in the SERS spectroscopy of living CNE-1 cells. The Raman lines of 1 026, 1 097, 1 336 and 1 585 cm-1 were assigned to vibrations of the DNA backbone, which confirms that some gold nanoparticles were able to enter the nucleus. The results showed that, based on colloidal gold, the SERS spectroscopy might provide a sensitive and structurally selective detecting method for native chemicals inside a cell, such as DNA and phenylalanine.