Guided circumferential wave propagation in a multi-layered thick-walled hollow cylinder is investigated. By the study of the dispersion curves of the guided circumferential waves, the phenomena of the frequency dispersion and mode interactions are found. The first wave mode approaches to the Rayleigh wave when the frequency tends to infinity. Whether the dispersion curves comparison between TSST,TWST,STST, SIST and SOST, or considering the thickness of cylinder, it can be found that the lower modes are useful to the non-destructive detection of the interfacial surface defects. By the study of displacement curves with different continuous conditions, it is further concluded that the second wave mode has larger energy distribution near the interface, so can be used to the non-destructive detection of the interfacial surface defects.