Glasses in the xLa 2 O 3 -yAl 2 O 3 -(100 − x − y)NaPO 3 system were synthesized by a melt quenching method, where 0 ≤ x ≤ 7.5, y = 0 and x = 5, 5 ≤ y ≤ 15. The structures were characterized by advanced multinuclei solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (SSNMR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). 31 P MAS NMR spectroscopy indicates that the glass Q 2 structure is depolymerized by La 2 O 3 and Al 2 O 3 , forming multiple Q xAl n and Q yLa n phosphorus species, where n, x, and y represent the number of P−O−P, P−O−Al, and P−O− La bonds, respectively. The various phosphorus species were identified by the J-coupling effect based one and two-dimensional (1D and 2D) experiments such as 2D J-resolved, 1D refocused INADEQUATE and 1D 31 P{ 27 Al} J-coupling heteronuclear multiple quantum coherence (HMQC). La is used as a mimic to simulate the local structure of the luminescent rare earth ions. 139 La wideband uniform rate smooth truncation quadrupolar Carr−Purcell−Meiboom−Gill (WURST-QCPMG) spectra show that the coordination number of La is dominantly nine, and some La atoms transfer to lower coordination with the addition of Al 2 O 3 . La, Al, and Na atoms exclusively bond to phosphorus tetrahedron PO 4 , which is evidenced by the 31 P/ 23 Na, 31 P/ 27 Al double resonance NMR, XPS, and the calculation of charge balance. However, the Al/P and La/P connection methods are much different based on the calculation of charge balance and bond number. Finally, comprehensive and novel local structure models are developed for these rare earth-doped aluminum phosphate glasses.