Abstract—The COVID-19 outbreak occurred in 2019, which caused a catastrophic impact around the world. With the rapid and wide spread of the pandemic, there are increasing medical needs globally, which stimulates the development and upgrade of health facilities. Among these facilities, Mobile Cabin Hospitals (MCHs) are instrumental in responding to COVID-19. This study aims to provide an overview of current knowledge about MCHs. Its goals are to present a perspective of MCHs’ construction patterns, their geographical distribution in China in the context of COVID-19, and underlying challenges. Results revealed the differences between two construction patterns of MCHs in terms of structural characteristics and application scopes. Also, through density maps, it was suggested that the geographical distribution of MCHs is closely related to the severity of the pandemic in China. Additionally, some potential challenges were identified in the planning, design, execution, operation, maintenance, and demolition phases respectively. The results can provide useful references for battling against public health emergencies like the COVID-19 pandemic.