DNA-based stable isotope probing (DNA-SIP) was employed to establish direct link between methane oxidation activity and the taxonomic identity of active methanotrophs in three rice field soils from Jian-San-Jiang (one baijiang origin soil, JB and one meadow origin soil, JM) and Qing-An (meadow origin soil, QA) districts in Northeastern China. Following microcosm incubation under 1% v/v13CH4 condition, soil organic 13C atom percent significantly increased from background 1.08 to 1.21% in average, indicating the biomass synthesis supported by methanotrophy. Real-time PCR analysis of methanotroph-specific biomarker pmoA genes of the buoyant density for DNA gradient, following the ultracentrifugation of the total DNA extracted from SIP microcosms, indicated an enrichment of methanotroph genomes in 13C-labeled DNA. It suggested propagation of microbial methane oxidizers in soils. High-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA and pmoA genes from 13C-labeled DNA further revealed a diverse guild of both type I and II methanotrophs in all three soils. Specifically, Methylobacter-affiliated type I methanotrophs dominated the methanotrophic activity in JB and JM soils, whereas Methylocystis-affiliated type II methanotrophs dominated QA soil. This implied the physiological diversification of soil methanotrophs that might be due to constant environmental fluctuations in paddies.