diff --git a/docs/understand_mmcv/io.md b/docs/understand_mmcv/io.md
index 50314d13d0..f6c28dd425 100644
--- a/docs/understand_mmcv/io.md
+++ b/docs/understand_mmcv/io.md
@@ -2,11 +2,17 @@
 
 This module provides two universal API to load and dump files of different formats.
 
+```{note}
+Since v1.3.16, the IO modules support loading (dumping) data from (to) different backends, respectively. More details are in PR [#1330](https://github.com/open-mmlab/mmcv/pull/1330).
+```
+
 ### Load and dump data
 
 `mmcv` provides a universal api for loading and dumping data, currently
 supported formats are json, yaml and pickle.
 
+#### Load from disk or dump to disk
+
 ```python
 import mmcv
 
@@ -29,6 +35,20 @@ with open('test.yaml', 'w') as f:
     data = mmcv.dump(data, f, file_format='yaml')
 ```
 
+#### Load from other backends or dump to other backends
+
+```python
+import mmcv
+
+# load data from a file
+data = mmcv.load('s3://bucket-name/test.json')
+data = mmcv.load('s3://bucket-name/test.yaml')
+data = mmcv.load('s3://bucket-name/test.pkl')
+
+# dump data to a file with a filename (infer format from file extension)
+mmcv.dump(data, 's3://bucket-name/out.pkl')
+```
+
 It is also very convenient to extend the api to support more file formats.
 All you need to do is to write a file handler inherited from `BaseFileHandler`
 and register it with one or several file formats.
@@ -92,7 +112,9 @@ d
 e
 ```
 
-Then use `list_from_file` to load the list from a.txt.
+#### Load from disk
+
+Use `list_from_file` to load the list from a.txt.
 
 ```python
 >>> mmcv.list_from_file('a.txt')
@@ -113,7 +135,7 @@ For example `b.txt` is a text file with 3 lines.
 3 panda
 ```
 
-Then use `dict_from_file` to load the dict from `b.txt` .
+Then use `dict_from_file` to load the dict from `b.txt`.
 
 ```python
 >>> mmcv.dict_from_file('b.txt')
@@ -121,3 +143,105 @@ Then use `dict_from_file` to load the dict from `b.txt` .
 >>> mmcv.dict_from_file('b.txt', key_type=int)
 {1: 'cat', 2: ['dog', 'cow'], 3: 'panda'}
 ```
+
+#### Load from other backends
+
+Use `list_from_file` to load the list from `s3://bucket-name/a.txt`.
+
+```python
+>>> mmcv.list_from_file('s3://bucket-name/a.txt')
+['a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e']
+>>> mmcv.list_from_file('s3://bucket-name/a.txt', offset=2)
+['c', 'd', 'e']
+>>> mmcv.list_from_file('s3://bucket-name/a.txt', max_num=2)
+['a', 'b']
+>>> mmcv.list_from_file('s3://bucket-name/a.txt', prefix='/mnt/')
+['/mnt/a', '/mnt/b', '/mnt/c', '/mnt/d', '/mnt/e']
+```
+
+Use `dict_from_file` to load the dict from `s3://bucket-name/b.txt`.
+
+```python
+>>> mmcv.dict_from_file('s3://bucket-name/b.txt')
+{'1': 'cat', '2': ['dog', 'cow'], '3': 'panda'}
+>>> mmcv.dict_from_file('s3://bucket-name/b.txt', key_type=int)
+{1: 'cat', 2: ['dog', 'cow'], 3: 'panda'}
+```
+
+### Load and dump checkpoints
+
+#### Load checkpoints from disk or save to disk
+
+We can read the checkpoints from disk or save to disk in the following way.
+
+```python
+import torch
+
+filepath1 = '/path/of/your/checkpoint1.pth'
+filepath2 = '/path/of/your/checkpoint2.pth'
+# read from filepath1
+checkpoint = torch.load(filepath1)
+# save to filepath2
+torch.save(checkpoint, filepath2)
+```
+
+MMCV provides many backends. `HardDiskBackend` is one of them and we can use it to read or save checkpoints.
+
+```python
+import io
+from mmcv.fileio.file_client import HardDiskBackend
+
+disk_backend = HardDiskBackend()
+with io.BytesIO(disk_backend.get(filepath1)) as buffer:
+    checkpoint = torch.load(buffer)
+with io.BytesIO() as buffer:
+    torch.save(checkpoint, f)
+    disk_backend.put(f.getvalue(), filepath2)
+```
+
+If we want to implement an interface which automatically select the corresponding
+backend based on the file path, we can use the `FileClient`.
+For example, we want to implement two methods for reading checkpoints as well as saving checkpoints,
+which need to support different types of file paths, either disk paths, network paths or other paths.
+
+```python
+from mmcv.fileio.file_client import FileClient
+
+def load_checkpoint(path):
+    file_client = FileClient.infer(uri=path)
+    with io.BytesIO(file_client.get(path)) as buffer:
+        checkpoint = torch.load(buffer)
+    return checkpoint
+
+def save_checkpoint(checkpoint, path):
+    with io.BytesIO() as buffer:
+        torch.save(checkpoint, buffer)
+        file_client.put(buffer.getvalue(), path)
+
+file_client = FileClient.infer_client(uri=filepath1)
+checkpoint = load_checkpoint(filepath1)
+save_checkpoint(checkpoint, filepath2)
+```
+
+#### Load checkpoints from the Internet
+
+```{note}
+Currently, it only supports reading checkpoints from the Internet, and does not support saving checkpoints to the Internet.
+```
+
+```python
+import io
+import torch
+from mmcv.fileio.file_client import HTTPBackend, FileClient
+
+filepath = 'http://path/of/your/checkpoint.pth'
+checkpoint = torch.utils.model_zoo.load_url(filepath)
+
+http_backend = HTTPBackend()
+with io.BytesIO(http_backend.get(filepath)) as buffer:
+    checkpoint = torch.load(buffer)
+
+file_client = FileClient.infer_client(uri=filepath)
+with io.BytesIO(file_client.get(filepath)) as buffer:
+    checkpoint = torch.load(buffer)
+```
diff --git a/docs_zh_CN/understand_mmcv/io.md b/docs_zh_CN/understand_mmcv/io.md
index 8d3844f77c..0e5002f828 100644
--- a/docs_zh_CN/understand_mmcv/io.md
+++ b/docs_zh_CN/understand_mmcv/io.md
@@ -2,10 +2,16 @@
 
 文件输入输出模块提供了两个通用的 API 接口用于读取和保存不同格式的文件。
 
+```{note}
+在 v1.3.16 及之后的版本中，IO 模块支持从不同后端读取数据并支持将数据至不同后端。更多细节请访问 PR [#1330](https://github.com/open-mmlab/mmcv/pull/1330)。
+```
+
 ### 读取和保存数据
 
 `mmcv` 提供了一个通用的 api 用于读取和保存数据，目前支持的格式有 json、yaml 和 pickle。
 
+#### 从硬盘读取数据或者将数据保存至硬盘
+
 ```python
 import mmcv
 
@@ -28,6 +34,20 @@ with open('test.yaml', 'w') as f:
     data = mmcv.dump(data, f, file_format='yaml')
 ```
 
+#### 从其他后端加载或者保存至其他后端
+
+```python
+import mmcv
+
+# 从 s3 文件读取数据
+data = mmcv.load('s3://bucket-name/test.json')
+data = mmcv.load('s3://bucket-name/test.yaml')
+data = mmcv.load('s3://bucket-name/test.pkl')
+
+# 将数据保存至 s3 文件 (根据文件名后缀反推文件类型)
+mmcv.dump(data, 's3://bucket-name/out.pkl')
+```
+
 我们提供了易于拓展的方式以支持更多的文件格式。我们只需要创建一个继承自 `BaseFileHandler` 的
 文件句柄类并将其注册到 `mmcv` 中即可。句柄类至少需要重写三个方法。
 
@@ -49,7 +69,7 @@ class TxtHandler1(mmcv.BaseFileHandler):
         return str(obj)
 ```
 
-举 `PickleHandler` 为例。
+以 `PickleHandler` 为例
 
 ```python
 import pickle
@@ -87,8 +107,9 @@ c
 d
 e
 ```
+#### 从硬盘读取
 
-使用 `list_from_file` 读取 `a.txt` 。
+使用 `list_from_file` 读取 `a.txt`
 
 ```python
 >>> mmcv.list_from_file('a.txt')
@@ -101,7 +122,7 @@ e
 ['/mnt/a', '/mnt/b', '/mnt/c', '/mnt/d', '/mnt/e']
 ```
 
-同样， `b.txt` 也是文本文件，一共有3行内容。
+同样， `b.txt` 也是文本文件，一共有3行内容
 
 ```
 1 cat
@@ -109,7 +130,7 @@ e
 3 panda
 ```
 
-使用 `dict_from_file` 读取 `b.txt` 。
+使用 `dict_from_file` 读取 `b.txt`
 
 ```python
 >>> mmcv.dict_from_file('b.txt')
@@ -117,3 +138,103 @@ e
 >>> mmcv.dict_from_file('b.txt', key_type=int)
 {1: 'cat', 2: ['dog', 'cow'], 3: 'panda'}
 ```
+
+#### 从其他后端读取
+
+使用 `list_from_file` 读取 `s3://bucket-name/a.txt`
+
+```python
+>>> mmcv.list_from_file('s3://bucket-name/a.txt')
+['a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e']
+>>> mmcv.list_from_file('s3://bucket-name/a.txt', offset=2)
+['c', 'd', 'e']
+>>> mmcv.list_from_file('s3://bucket-name/a.txt', max_num=2)
+['a', 'b']
+>>> mmcv.list_from_file('s3://bucket-name/a.txt', prefix='/mnt/')
+['/mnt/a', '/mnt/b', '/mnt/c', '/mnt/d', '/mnt/e']
+```
+
+使用 `dict_from_file` 读取 `b.txt`
+
+```python
+>>> mmcv.dict_from_file('s3://bucket-name/b.txt')
+{'1': 'cat', '2': ['dog', 'cow'], '3': 'panda'}
+>>> mmcv.dict_from_file('s3://bucket-name/b.txt', key_type=int)
+{1: 'cat', 2: ['dog', 'cow'], 3: 'panda'}
+```
+
+### 读取和保存权重文件
+
+#### 从硬盘读取权重文件或者将权重文件保存至硬盘
+
+我们可以通过下面的方式从磁盘读取权重文件或者将权重文件保存至磁盘
+
+```python
+import torch
+
+filepath1 = '/path/of/your/checkpoint1.pth'
+filepath2 = '/path/of/your/checkpoint2.pth'
+# 从 filepath1 读取权重文件
+checkpoint = torch.load(filepath1)
+# 将权重文件保存至 filepath2
+torch.save(checkpoint, filepath2)
+```
+
+MMCV 提供了很多后端，`HardDiskBackend` 是其中一个，我们可以通过它来读取或者保存权重文件。
+
+```python
+import io
+from mmcv.fileio.file_client import HardDiskBackend
+
+disk_backend = HardDiskBackend()
+with io.BytesIO(disk_backend.get(filepath1)) as buffer:
+    checkpoint = torch.load(buffer)
+with io.BytesIO() as buffer:
+    torch.save(checkpoint, f)
+    disk_backend.put(f.getvalue(), filepath2)
+```
+
+如果我们想在接口中实现根据文件路径自动选择对应的后端，我们可以使用 `FileClient`。
+例如，我们想实现两个方法，分别是读取权重以及保存权重，它们需支持不同类型的文件路径，可以是磁盘路径，也可以是网络路径或者其他路径。
+
+```python
+from mmcv.fileio.file_client import FileClient
+
+def load_checkpoint(path):
+    file_client = FileClient.infer(uri=path)
+    with io.BytesIO(file_client.get(path)) as buffer:
+        checkpoint = torch.load(buffer)
+    return checkpoint
+
+def save_checkpoint(checkpoint, path):
+    with io.BytesIO() as buffer:
+        torch.save(checkpoint, buffer)
+        file_client.put(buffer.getvalue(), path)
+
+file_client = FileClient.infer_client(uri=filepath1)
+checkpoint = load_checkpoint(filepath1)
+save_checkpoint(checkpoint, filepath2)
+```
+
+#### 从网络远端读取权重文件
+
+```{note}
+目前只支持从网络远端读取权重文件，暂不支持将权重文件写入网络远端
+```
+
+```python
+import io
+import torch
+from mmcv.fileio.file_client import HTTPBackend, FileClient
+
+filepath = 'http://path/of/your/checkpoint.pth'
+checkpoint = torch.utils.model_zoo.load_url(filepath)
+
+http_backend = HTTPBackend()
+with io.BytesIO(http_backend.get(filepath)) as buffer:
+    checkpoint = torch.load(buffer)
+
+file_client = FileClient.infer_client(uri=filepath)
+with io.BytesIO(file_client.get(filepath)) as buffer:
+    checkpoint = torch.load(buffer)
+```
diff --git a/mmcv/fileio/file_client.py b/mmcv/fileio/file_client.py
index e8a6cbdb08..a6c0f8b89e 100644
--- a/mmcv/fileio/file_client.py
+++ b/mmcv/fileio/file_client.py
@@ -1,8 +1,19 @@
 # Copyright (c) OpenMMLab. All rights reserved.
 import inspect
+import os
+import os.path as osp
+import re
+import tempfile
+import warnings
 from abc import ABCMeta, abstractmethod
+from contextlib import contextmanager
+from pathlib import Path
+from typing import Iterable, Iterator, Optional, Tuple, Union
 from urllib.request import urlopen
 
+from mmcv.utils.misc import has_method
+from mmcv.utils.path import is_filepath
+
 
 class BaseStorageBackend(metaclass=ABCMeta):
     """Abstract class of storage backends.
@@ -22,12 +33,16 @@ def get_text(self, filepath):
 
 
 class CephBackend(BaseStorageBackend):
-    """Ceph storage backend.
+    """Ceph storage backend (for internal use).
 
     Args:
         path_mapping (dict|None): path mapping dict from local path to Petrel
             path. When ``path_mapping={'src': 'dst'}``, ``src`` in ``filepath``
             will be replaced by ``dst``. Default: None.
+
+    .. warning::
+        :class:`CephBackend` will be deprecated, please use
+        :class:`PetrelBackend` instead
     """
 
     def __init__(self, path_mapping=None):
@@ -36,6 +51,8 @@ def __init__(self, path_mapping=None):
         except ImportError:
             raise ImportError('Please install ceph to enable CephBackend.')
 
+        warnings.warn(
+            'CephBackend will be deprecated, please use PetrelBackend instead')
         self._client = ceph.S3Client()
         assert isinstance(path_mapping, dict) or path_mapping is None
         self.path_mapping = path_mapping
@@ -49,21 +66,36 @@ def get(self, filepath):
         value_buf = memoryview(value)
         return value_buf
 
-    def get_text(self, filepath):
+    def get_text(self, filepath, encoding=None):
         raise NotImplementedError
 
 
 class PetrelBackend(BaseStorageBackend):
     """Petrel storage backend (for internal use).
 
+    PetrelBackend supports reading and writing data to multiple clusters.
+    If the file path contains the cluster name, PetrelBackend will read data
+    from specified cluster or write data to it. Otherwise, PetrelBackend will
+    access the default cluster.
+
     Args:
-        path_mapping (dict|None): path mapping dict from local path to Petrel
-            path. When `path_mapping={'src': 'dst'}`, `src` in `filepath` will
-            be replaced by `dst`. Default: None.
-        enable_mc (bool): whether to enable memcached support. Default: True.
+        path_mapping (dict, optional): Path mapping dict from local path to
+            Petrel path. When ``path_mapping={'src': 'dst'}``, ``src`` in
+            ``filepath`` will be replaced by ``dst``. Default: None.
+        enable_mc (bool, optional): Whether to enable memcached support.
+            Default: True.
+
+    Examples:
+        >>> filepath1 = 's3://path/of/file'
+        >>> filepath2 = 'cluster-name:s3://path/of/file'
+        >>> client = PetrelBackend()
+        >>> client.get(filepath1)  # get data from default cluster
+        >>> client.get(filepath2)  # get data from 'cluster-name' cluster
     """
 
-    def __init__(self, path_mapping=None, enable_mc=True):
+    def __init__(self,
+                 path_mapping: Optional[dict] = None,
+                 enable_mc: bool = True):
         try:
             from petrel_client import client
         except ImportError:
@@ -74,17 +106,296 @@ def __init__(self, path_mapping=None, enable_mc=True):
         assert isinstance(path_mapping, dict) or path_mapping is None
         self.path_mapping = path_mapping
 
-    def get(self, filepath):
+    def _map_path(self, filepath: Union[str, Path]) -> str:
+        """Map ``filepath`` to a string path whose prefix will be replaced by
+        :attr:`self.path_mapping`.
+
+        Args:
+            filepath (str): Path to be mapped.
+        """
         filepath = str(filepath)
         if self.path_mapping is not None:
             for k, v in self.path_mapping.items():
                 filepath = filepath.replace(k, v)
+        return filepath
+
+    def _format_path(self, filepath: str) -> str:
+        """Convert a ``filepath`` to standard format of petrel oss.
+
+        If the ``filepath`` is concatenated by ``os.path.join``, in a Windows
+        environment, the ``filepath`` will be the format of
+        's3://bucket_name\\image.jpg'. By invoking :meth:`_format_path`, the
+        above ``filepath`` will be converted to 's3://bucket_name/image.jpg'.
+
+        Args:
+            filepath (str): Path to be formatted.
+        """
+        return re.sub(r'\\+', '/', filepath)
+
+    def get(self, filepath: Union[str, Path]) -> memoryview:
+        """Read data from a given ``filepath`` with 'rb' mode.
+
+        Args:
+            filepath (str or Path): Path to read data.
+
+        Returns:
+            memoryview: A memory view of expected bytes object to avoid
+                copying. The memoryview object can be converted to bytes by
+                ``value_buf.tobytes()``.
+        """
+        filepath = self._map_path(filepath)
+        filepath = self._format_path(filepath)
         value = self._client.Get(filepath)
         value_buf = memoryview(value)
         return value_buf
 
-    def get_text(self, filepath):
-        raise NotImplementedError
+    def get_text(self,
+                 filepath: Union[str, Path],
+                 encoding: str = 'utf-8') -> str:
+        """Read data from a given ``filepath`` with 'r' mode.
+
+        Args:
+            filepath (str or Path): Path to read data.
+            encoding (str): The encoding format used to open the ``filepath``.
+                Default: 'utf-8'.
+
+        Returns:
+            str: Expected text reading from ``filepath``.
+        """
+        return str(self.get(filepath), encoding=encoding)
+
+    def put(self, obj: bytes, filepath: Union[str, Path]) -> None:
+        """Save data to a given ``filepath``.
+
+        Args:
+            obj (bytes): Data to be saved.
+            filepath (str or Path): Path to write data.
+        """
+        filepath = self._map_path(filepath)
+        filepath = self._format_path(filepath)
+        self._client.put(filepath, obj)
+
+    def put_text(self,
+                 obj: str,
+                 filepath: Union[str, Path],
+                 encoding: str = 'utf-8') -> None:
+        """Save data to a given ``filepath``.
+
+        Args:
+            obj (str): Data to be written.
+            filepath (str or Path): Path to write data.
+            encoding (str): The encoding format used to encode the ``obj``.
+                Default: 'utf-8'.
+        """
+        self.put(bytes(obj, encoding=encoding), filepath)
+
+    def remove(self, filepath: Union[str, Path]) -> None:
+        """Remove a file.
+
+        Args:
+            filepath (str or Path): Path to be removed.
+        """
+        if not has_method(self._client, 'delete'):
+            raise NotImplementedError(
+                ('Current version of Petrel Python SDK has not supported '
+                 'the `delete` method, please use a higher version or dev'
+                 ' branch instead.'))
+
+        filepath = self._map_path(filepath)
+        filepath = self._format_path(filepath)
+        self._client.delete(filepath)
+
+    def exists(self, filepath: Union[str, Path]) -> bool:
+        """Check whether a file path exists.
+
+        Args:
+            filepath (str or Path): Path to be checked whether exists.
+
+        Returns:
+            bool: Return ``True`` if ``filepath`` exists, ``False`` otherwise.
+        """
+        if not (has_method(self._client, 'contains')
+                and has_method(self._client, 'isdir')):
+            raise NotImplementedError(
+                ('Current version of Petrel Python SDK has not supported '
+                 'the `contains` and `isdir` methods, please use a higher'
+                 'version or dev branch instead.'))
+
+        filepath = self._map_path(filepath)
+        filepath = self._format_path(filepath)
+        return self._client.contains(filepath) or self._client.isdir(filepath)
+
+    def isdir(self, filepath: Union[str, Path]) -> bool:
+        """Check whether a file path is a directory.
+
+        Args:
+            filepath (str or Path): Path to be checked whether it is a
+                directory.
+
+        Returns:
+            bool: Return ``True`` if ``filepath`` points to a directory,
+                ``False`` otherwise.
+        """
+        if not has_method(self._client, 'isdir'):
+            raise NotImplementedError(
+                ('Current version of Petrel Python SDK has not supported '
+                 'the `isdir` method, please use a higher version or dev'
+                 ' branch instead.'))
+
+        filepath = self._map_path(filepath)
+        filepath = self._format_path(filepath)
+        return self._client.isdir(filepath)
+
+    def isfile(self, filepath: Union[str, Path]) -> bool:
+        """Check whether a file path is a file.
+
+        Args:
+            filepath (str or Path): Path to be checked whether it is a file.
+
+        Returns:
+            bool: Return ``True`` if ``filepath`` points to a file, ``False``
+                otherwise.
+        """
+        if not has_method(self._client, 'contains'):
+            raise NotImplementedError(
+                ('Current version of Petrel Python SDK has not supported '
+                 'the `contains` method, please use a higher version or '
+                 'dev branch instead.'))
+
+        filepath = self._map_path(filepath)
+        filepath = self._format_path(filepath)
+        return self._client.contains(filepath)
+
+    def concat_paths(self, filepath: Union[str, Path],
+                     *filepaths: Union[str, Path]) -> str:
+        """Concatenate all file paths.
+
+        Args:
+            filepath (str or Path): Path to be concatenated.
+
+        Returns:
+            str: The result after concatenation.
+        """
+        filepath = self._format_path(self._map_path(filepath))
+        if filepath.endswith('/'):
+            filepath = filepath[:-1]
+        formatted_paths = [filepath]
+        for path in filepaths:
+            formatted_paths.append(self._format_path(self._map_path(path)))
+        return '/'.join(formatted_paths)
+
+    @contextmanager
+    def get_local_path(self, filepath: Union[str, Path]) -> Iterable[str]:
+        """Download a file from ``filepath`` and return a temporary path.
+
+        ``get_local_path`` is decorated by :meth:`contxtlib.contextmanager`. It
+        can be called with ``with`` statement, and when exists from the
+        ``with`` statement, the temporary path will be released.
+
+        Args:
+            filepath (str | Path): Download a file from ``filepath``.
+
+        Examples:
+            >>> client = PetrelBackend()
+            >>> # After existing from the ``with`` clause,
+            >>> # the path will be removed
+            >>> with client.get_local_path('s3://path/of/your/file') as path:
+            ...     # do something here
+
+        Yields:
+            Iterable[str]: Only yield one temporary path.
+        """
+        filepath = self._map_path(filepath)
+        filepath = self._format_path(filepath)
+        assert self.isfile(filepath)
+        try:
+            f = tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile(delete=False)
+            f.write(self.get(filepath))
+            f.close()
+            yield f.name
+        finally:
+            os.remove(f.name)
+
+    def list_dir_or_file(self,
+                         dir_path: Union[str, Path],
+                         list_dir: bool = True,
+                         list_file: bool = True,
+                         suffix: Optional[Union[str, Tuple[str]]] = None,
+                         recursive: bool = False) -> Iterator[str]:
+        """Scan a directory to find the interested directories or files in
+        arbitrary order.
+
+        Note:
+            Petrel has no concept of directories but it simulates the directory
+            hierarchy in the filesystem through public prefixes. In addition,
+            if the returned path ends with '/', it means the path is a public
+            prefix which is a logical directory.
+
+        Note:
+            :meth:`list_dir_or_file` returns the path relative to ``dir_path``.
+            In addition, the returned path of directory will not contains the
+            suffix '/' which is consistent with other backends.
+
+        Args:
+            dir_path (str | Path): Path of the directory.
+            list_dir (bool): List the directories. Default: True.
+            list_file (bool): List the path of files. Default: True.
+            suffix (str or tuple[str], optional):  File suffix
+                that we are interested in. Default: None.
+            recursive (bool): If set to True, recursively scan the
+                directory. Default: False.
+
+        Yields:
+            Iterable[str]: A relative path to ``dir_path``.
+        """
+        if not has_method(self._client, 'list'):
+            raise NotImplementedError(
+                ('Current version of Petrel Python SDK has not supported '
+                 'the `list` method, please use a higher version or dev'
+                 ' branch instead.'))
+
+        dir_path = self._map_path(dir_path)
+        dir_path = self._format_path(dir_path)
+        if list_dir and suffix is not None:
+            raise TypeError(
+                '`list_dir` should be False when `suffix` is not None')
+
+        if (suffix is not None) and not isinstance(suffix, (str, tuple)):
+            raise TypeError('`suffix` must be a string or tuple of strings')
+
+        # Petrel's simulated directory hierarchy assumes that directory paths
+        # should end with `/`
+        if not dir_path.endswith('/'):
+            dir_path += '/'
+
+        root = dir_path
+
+        def _list_dir_or_file(dir_path, list_dir, list_file, suffix,
+                              recursive):
+            for path in self._client.list(dir_path):
+                # the `self.isdir` is not used here to determine whether path
+                # is a directory, because `self.isdir` relies on
+                # `self._client.list`
+                if path.endswith('/'):  # a directory path
+                    next_dir_path = self.concat_paths(dir_path, path)
+                    if list_dir:
+                        # get the relative path and exclude the last
+                        # character '/'
+                        rel_dir = next_dir_path[len(root):-1]
+                        yield rel_dir
+                    if recursive:
+                        yield from _list_dir_or_file(next_dir_path, list_dir,
+                                                     list_file, suffix,
+                                                     recursive)
+                else:  # a file path
+                    absolute_path = self.concat_paths(dir_path, path)
+                    rel_path = absolute_path[len(root):]
+                    if (suffix is None
+                            or rel_path.endswith(suffix)) and list_file:
+                        yield rel_path
+
+        return _list_dir_or_file(dir_path, list_dir, list_file, suffix,
+                                 recursive)
 
 
 class MemcachedBackend(BaseStorageBackend):
@@ -121,7 +432,7 @@ def get(self, filepath):
         value_buf = mc.ConvertBuffer(self._mc_buffer)
         return value_buf
 
-    def get_text(self, filepath):
+    def get_text(self, filepath, encoding=None):
         raise NotImplementedError
 
 
@@ -173,25 +484,185 @@ def get(self, filepath):
             value_buf = txn.get(filepath.encode('ascii'))
         return value_buf
 
-    def get_text(self, filepath):
+    def get_text(self, filepath, encoding=None):
         raise NotImplementedError
 
 
 class HardDiskBackend(BaseStorageBackend):
     """Raw hard disks storage backend."""
 
-    def get(self, filepath):
-        filepath = str(filepath)
+    def get(self, filepath: Union[str, Path]) -> bytes:
+        """Read data from a given ``filepath`` with 'rb' mode.
+
+        Args:
+            filepath (str or Path): Path to read data.
+
+        Returns:
+            bytes: Expected bytes object.
+        """
         with open(filepath, 'rb') as f:
             value_buf = f.read()
         return value_buf
 
-    def get_text(self, filepath):
-        filepath = str(filepath)
-        with open(filepath, 'r') as f:
+    def get_text(self,
+                 filepath: Union[str, Path],
+                 encoding: str = 'utf-8') -> str:
+        """Read data from a given ``filepath`` with 'r' mode.
+
+        Args:
+            filepath (str or Path): Path to read data.
+            encoding (str): The encoding format used to open the ``filepath``.
+                Default: 'utf-8'.
+
+        Returns:
+            str: Expected text reading from ``filepath``.
+        """
+        with open(filepath, 'r', encoding=encoding) as f:
             value_buf = f.read()
         return value_buf
 
+    def put(self, obj: bytes, filepath: Union[str, Path]) -> None:
+        """Write data to a given ``filepath`` with 'wb' mode.
+
+        Args:
+            obj (bytes): Data to be written.
+            filepath (str or Path): Path to write data.
+        """
+        with open(filepath, 'wb') as f:
+            f.write(obj)
+
+    def put_text(self,
+                 obj: str,
+                 filepath: Union[str, Path],
+                 encoding: str = 'utf-8') -> None:
+        """Write data to a given ``filepath`` with 'w' mode.
+
+        Args:
+            obj (str): Data to be written.
+            filepath (str or Path): Path to write data.
+            encoding (str): The encoding format used to open the ``filepath``.
+                Default: 'utf-8'.
+        """
+        with open(filepath, 'w', encoding=encoding) as f:
+            f.write(obj)
+
+    def remove(self, filepath: Union[str, Path]) -> None:
+        """Remove a file.
+
+        Args:
+            filepath (str or Path): Path to be removed.
+        """
+        os.remove(filepath)
+
+    def exists(self, filepath: Union[str, Path]) -> bool:
+        """Check whether a file path exists.
+
+        Args:
+            filepath (str or Path): Path to be checked whether exists.
+
+        Returns:
+            bool: Return ``True`` if ``filepath`` exists, ``False`` otherwise.
+        """
+        return osp.exists(filepath)
+
+    def isdir(self, filepath: Union[str, Path]) -> bool:
+        """Check whether a file path is a directory.
+
+        Args:
+            filepath (str or Path): Path to be checked whether it is a
+                directory.
+
+        Returns:
+            bool: Return ``True`` if ``filepath`` points to a directory,
+                ``False`` otherwise.
+        """
+        return osp.isdir(filepath)
+
+    def isfile(self, filepath: Union[str, Path]) -> bool:
+        """Check a ``filepath`` whether it is a file.
+
+        Args:
+            filepath (str or Path): Path to be checked whether it is a file.
+
+        Returns:
+            bool: Return ``True`` if ``filepath`` points to a file, ``False``
+                otherwise.
+        """
+        return osp.isfile(filepath)
+
+    def concat_paths(self, filepath: Union[str, Path],
+                     *filepaths: Union[str, Path]) -> str:
+        """Concatenate all file paths.
+
+        Join one or more filepath components intelligently. The return value
+        is the concatenation of filepath and any members of *filepaths.
+
+        Args:
+            filepath (str or Path): Path to be concatenated.
+
+        Returns:
+            str: The result of concatenation.
+        """
+        return osp.join(filepath, *filepaths)
+
+    @contextmanager
+    def get_local_path(
+            self, filepath: Union[str, Path]) -> Iterable[Union[str, Path]]:
+        """Only for unified API and do nothing."""
+        yield filepath
+
+    def list_dir_or_file(self,
+                         dir_path: Union[str, Path],
+                         list_dir: bool = True,
+                         list_file: bool = True,
+                         suffix: Optional[Union[str, Tuple[str]]] = None,
+                         recursive: bool = False) -> Iterator[str]:
+        """Scan a directory to find the interested directories or files in
+        arbitrary order.
+
+        Note:
+            :meth:`list_dir_or_file` returns the path relative to ``dir_path``.
+
+        Args:
+            dir_path (str | Path): Path of the directory.
+            list_dir (bool): List the directories. Default: True.
+            list_file (bool): List the path of files. Default: True.
+            suffix (str or tuple[str], optional):  File suffix
+                that we are interested in. Default: None.
+            recursive (bool): If set to True, recursively scan the
+                directory. Default: False.
+
+        Yields:
+            Iterable[str]: A relative path to ``dir_path``.
+        """
+        if list_dir and suffix is not None:
+            raise TypeError('`suffix` should be None when `list_dir` is True')
+
+        if (suffix is not None) and not isinstance(suffix, (str, tuple)):
+            raise TypeError('`suffix` must be a string or tuple of strings')
+
+        root = dir_path
+
+        def _list_dir_or_file(dir_path, list_dir, list_file, suffix,
+                              recursive):
+            for entry in os.scandir(dir_path):
+                if not entry.name.startswith('.') and entry.is_file():
+                    rel_path = osp.relpath(entry.path, root)
+                    if (suffix is None
+                            or rel_path.endswith(suffix)) and list_file:
+                        yield rel_path
+                elif osp.isdir(entry.path):
+                    if list_dir:
+                        rel_dir = osp.relpath(entry.path, root)
+                        yield rel_dir
+                    if recursive:
+                        yield from _list_dir_or_file(entry.path, list_dir,
+                                                     list_file, suffix,
+                                                     recursive)
+
+        return _list_dir_or_file(dir_path, list_dir, list_file, suffix,
+                                 recursive)
+
 
 class HTTPBackend(BaseStorageBackend):
     """HTTP and HTTPS storage bachend."""
@@ -200,21 +671,70 @@ def get(self, filepath):
         value_buf = urlopen(filepath).read()
         return value_buf
 
-    def get_text(self, filepath):
+    def get_text(self, filepath, encoding='utf-8'):
         value_buf = urlopen(filepath).read()
-        return value_buf.decode('utf-8')
+        return value_buf.decode(encoding)
+
+    @contextmanager
+    def get_local_path(self, filepath: str) -> Iterable[str]:
+        """Download a file from ``filepath``.
+
+        ``get_local_path`` is decorated by :meth:`contxtlib.contextmanager`. It
+        can be called with ``with`` statement, and when exists from the
+        ``with`` statement, the temporary path will be released.
+
+        Args:
+            filepath (str): Download a file from ``filepath``.
+
+        Examples:
+            >>> client = HTTPBackend()
+            >>> # After existing from the ``with`` clause,
+            >>> # the path will be removed
+            >>> with client.get_local_path('http://path/of/your/file') as path:
+            ...     # do something here
+        """
+        try:
+            f = tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile(delete=False)
+            f.write(self.get(filepath))
+            f.close()
+            yield f.name
+        finally:
+            os.remove(f.name)
 
 
 class FileClient:
-    """A general file client to access files in different backend.
+    """A general file client to access files in different backends.
 
     The client loads a file or text in a specified backend from its path
-    and return it as a binary file. it can also register other backend
-    accessor with a given name and backend class.
+    and returns it as a binary or text file. There are two ways to choose a
+    backend, the name of backend and the prefix of path. Although both of them
+    can be used to choose a storage backend, ``backend`` has a higher priority
+    that is if they are all set, the storage backend will be chosen by the
+    backend argument. If they are all `None`, the disk backend will be chosen.
+    Note that It can also register other backend accessor with a given name,
+    prefixes, and backend class. In addition, We use the singleton pattern to
+    avoid repeated object creation. If the arguments are the same, the same
+    object is returned.
+
+    Args:
+        backend (str, optional): The storage backend type. Options are "disk",
+            "ceph", "memcached", "lmdb", "http" and "petrel". Default: None.
+        prefix (str, optional): The prefix of the registered storage backend.
+            Options are "s3", "http", "https". Default: None.
+
+    Examples:
+        >>> # only set backend
+        >>> file_client = FileClient(backend='petrel')
+        >>> # only set prefix
+        >>> file_client = FileClient(prefix='s3')
+        >>> # set both backend and prefix but use backend to choose client
+        >>> file_client = FileClient(backend='petrel', prefix='s3')
+        >>> # if the arguments are the same, the same object is returned
+        >>> file_client1 = FileClient(backend='petrel')
+        >>> file_client1 is file_client
+        True
 
     Attributes:
-        backend (str): The storage backend type. Options are "disk", "ceph",
-            "memcached", "lmdb" and "http".
         client (:obj:`BaseStorageBackend`): The backend object.
     """
 
@@ -226,17 +746,117 @@ class FileClient:
         'petrel': PetrelBackend,
         'http': HTTPBackend,
     }
+    # This collection is used to record the overridden backends, and when a
+    # backend appears in the collection, the singleton pattern is disabled for
+    # that backend, because if the singleton pattern is used, then the object
+    # returned will be the backend before overwriting
+    _overridden_backends = set()
+    _prefix_to_backends = {
+        's3': PetrelBackend,
+        'http': HTTPBackend,
+        'https': HTTPBackend,
+    }
+    _overridden_prefixes = set()
+
+    _instances = {}
 
-    def __init__(self, backend='disk', **kwargs):
-        if backend not in self._backends:
+    def __new__(cls, backend=None, prefix=None, **kwargs):
+        if backend is None and prefix is None:
+            backend = 'disk'
+        if backend is not None and backend not in cls._backends:
             raise ValueError(
                 f'Backend {backend} is not supported. Currently supported ones'
-                f' are {list(self._backends.keys())}')
-        self.backend = backend
-        self.client = self._backends[backend](**kwargs)
+                f' are {list(cls._backends.keys())}')
+        if prefix is not None and prefix not in cls._prefix_to_backends:
+            raise ValueError(
+                f'prefix {prefix} is not supported. Currently supported ones '
+                f'are {list(cls._prefix_to_backends.keys())}')
+
+        # concatenate the arguments to a unique key for determining whether
+        # objects with the same arguments were created
+        arg_key = f'{backend}:{prefix}'
+        for key, value in kwargs.items():
+            arg_key += f':{key}:{value}'
+
+        # if a backend was overridden, it will create a new object
+        if (arg_key in cls._instances
+                and backend not in cls._overridden_backends
+                and prefix not in cls._overridden_prefixes):
+            _instance = cls._instances[arg_key]
+        else:
+            # create a new object and put it to _instance
+            _instance = super().__new__(cls)
+            if backend is not None:
+                _instance.client = cls._backends[backend](**kwargs)
+                _instance.backend_name = backend
+            else:
+                _instance.client = cls._prefix_to_backends[prefix](**kwargs)
+                # infer the backend name according to the prefix
+                for backend_name, backend_cls in cls._backends.items():
+                    if isinstance(_instance.client, backend_cls):
+                        _instance.backend_name = backend_name
+                        break
+            cls._instances[arg_key] = _instance
+
+        return _instance
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def parse_uri_prefix(uri: Union[str, Path]) -> Optional[str]:
+        """Parse the prefix of a uri.
+
+        Args:
+            uri (str | Path): Uri to be parsed that contains the file prefix.
+
+        Examples:
+            >>> FileClient.parse_uri_prefix('s3://path/of/your/file')
+            's3'
+
+        Returns:
+            str | None: Return the prefix of uri if the uri contains '://'
+                else ``None``.
+        """
+        assert is_filepath(uri)
+        uri = str(uri)
+        if '://' not in uri:
+            return None
+        else:
+            prefix, _ = uri.split('://')
+            # In the case of PetrelBackend, the prefix may contains the cluster
+            # name like clusterName:s3
+            if ':' in prefix:
+                _, prefix = prefix.split(':')
+            return prefix
 
     @classmethod
-    def _register_backend(cls, name, backend, force=False):
+    def infer_client(cls,
+                     file_client_args: Optional[dict] = None,
+                     uri: Optional[Union[str, Path]] = None) -> 'FileClient':
+        """Infer a suitable file client based on the URI and arguments.
+
+        Args:
+            file_client_args (dict, optional): Arguments to instantiate a
+                FileClient. Default: None.
+            uri (str | Path, optional): Uri to be parsed that contains the file
+                prefix. Default: None.
+
+        Examples:
+            >>> uri = 's3://path/of/your/file'
+            >>> file_client = FileClient.infer_client(uri=uri)
+            >>> file_client_args = {'backend': 'petrel'}
+            >>> file_client = FileClient.infer_client(file_client_args)
+
+        Returns:
+            FileClient: Instantiated FileClient object.
+        """
+        assert file_client_args is not None or uri is not None
+        if file_client_args is None:
+            file_prefix = cls.parse_uri_prefix(uri)  # type: ignore
+            return cls(prefix=file_prefix)
+        else:
+            return cls(**file_client_args)
+
+    @classmethod
+    def _register_backend(cls, name, backend, force=False, prefixes=None):
         if not isinstance(name, str):
             raise TypeError('the backend name should be a string, '
                             f'but got {type(name)}')
@@ -251,10 +871,28 @@ def _register_backend(cls, name, backend, force=False):
                 f'{name} is already registered as a storage backend, '
                 'add "force=True" if you want to override it')
 
+        if name in cls._backends and force:
+            cls._overridden_backends.add(name)
         cls._backends[name] = backend
 
+        if prefixes is not None:
+            if isinstance(prefixes, str):
+                prefixes = [prefixes]
+            else:
+                assert isinstance(prefixes, (list, tuple))
+            for prefix in prefixes:
+                if prefix not in cls._prefix_to_backends:
+                    cls._prefix_to_backends[prefix] = backend
+                elif (prefix in cls._prefix_to_backends) and force:
+                    cls._overridden_prefixes.add(prefix)
+                    cls._prefix_to_backends[prefix] = backend
+                else:
+                    raise KeyError(
+                        f'{prefix} is already registered as a storage backend,'
+                        ' add "force=True" if you want to override it')
+
     @classmethod
-    def register_backend(cls, name, backend=None, force=False):
+    def register_backend(cls, name, backend=None, force=False, prefixes=None):
         """Register a backend to FileClient.
 
         This method can be used as a normal class method or a decorator.
@@ -292,19 +930,184 @@ def get_text(self, filepath):
                 Defaults to None.
             force (bool, optional): Whether to override the backend if the name
                 has already been registered. Defaults to False.
+            prefixes (str or list[str] or tuple[str], optional): The prefixes
+                of the registered storage backend. Default: None.
+                `New in version 1.3.15.`
         """
         if backend is not None:
-            cls._register_backend(name, backend, force=force)
+            cls._register_backend(
+                name, backend, force=force, prefixes=prefixes)
             return
 
         def _register(backend_cls):
-            cls._register_backend(name, backend_cls, force=force)
+            cls._register_backend(
+                name, backend_cls, force=force, prefixes=prefixes)
             return backend_cls
 
         return _register
 
-    def get(self, filepath):
+    def get(self, filepath: Union[str, Path]) -> Union[bytes, memoryview]:
+        """Read data from a given ``filepath`` with 'rb' mode.
+
+        Note:
+            There are two types of return values for ``get``, one is ``bytes``
+            and the other is ``memoryview``. The advantage of using memoryview
+            is that you can avoid copying, and if you want to convert it to
+            ``bytes``, you can use ``.tobytes()``.
+
+        Args:
+            filepath (str or Path): Path to read data.
+
+        Returns:
+            bytes | memoryview: Expected bytes object or a memory view of the
+                bytes object.
+        """
         return self.client.get(filepath)
 
-    def get_text(self, filepath):
-        return self.client.get_text(filepath)
+    def get_text(self, filepath: Union[str, Path], encoding='utf-8') -> str:
+        """Read data from a given ``filepath`` with 'r' mode.
+
+        Args:
+            filepath (str or Path): Path to read data.
+            encoding (str): The encoding format used to open the ``filepath``.
+                Default: 'utf-8'.
+
+        Returns:
+            str: Expected text reading from ``filepath``.
+        """
+        return self.client.get_text(filepath, encoding)
+
+    def put(self, obj: bytes, filepath: Union[str, Path]) -> None:
+        """Write data to a given ``filepath`` with 'wb' mode.
+
+        Args:
+            obj (bytes): Data to be written.
+            filepath (str or Path): Path to write data.
+        """
+        self.client.put(obj, filepath)
+
+    def put_text(self, obj: str, filepath: Union[str, Path]) -> None:
+        """Write data to a given ``filepath`` with 'w' mode.
+
+        Args:
+            obj (str): Data to be written.
+            filepath (str or Path): Path to write data.
+            encoding (str, optional): The encoding format used to open the
+                `filepath`. Default: 'utf-8'.
+        """
+        self.client.put_text(obj, filepath)
+
+    def remove(self, filepath: Union[str, Path]) -> None:
+        """Remove a file.
+
+        Args:
+            filepath (str, Path): Path to be removed.
+        """
+        self.client.remove(filepath)
+
+    def exists(self, filepath: Union[str, Path]) -> bool:
+        """Check whether a file path exists.
+
+        Args:
+            filepath (str or Path): Path to be checked whether exists.
+
+        Returns:
+            bool: Return ``True`` if ``filepath`` exists, ``False`` otherwise.
+        """
+        return self.client.exists(filepath)
+
+    def isdir(self, filepath: Union[str, Path]) -> bool:
+        """Check whether a file path is a directory.
+
+        Args:
+            filepath (str or Path): Path to be checked whether it is a
+                directory.
+
+        Returns:
+            bool: Return ``True`` if ``filepath`` points to a directory,
+                ``False`` otherwise.
+        """
+        return self.client.isdir(filepath)
+
+    def isfile(self, filepath: Union[str, Path]) -> bool:
+        """Check whether a file path is a file.
+
+        Args:
+            filepath (str or Path): Path to be checked whether it is a file.
+
+        Returns:
+            bool: Return ``True`` if ``filepath`` points to a file, ``False``
+                otherwise.
+        """
+        return self.client.isfile(filepath)
+
+    def concat_paths(self, filepath: Union[str, Path],
+                     *filepaths: Union[str, Path]) -> str:
+        """Concatenate all file paths.
+
+        Join one or more filepath components intelligently. The return value
+        is the concatenation of filepath and any members of *filepaths.
+
+        Args:
+            filepath (str or Path): Path to be concatenated.
+
+        Returns:
+            str: The result of concatenation.
+        """
+        return self.client.concat_paths(filepath, *filepaths)
+
+    @contextmanager
+    def get_local_path(self, filepath: Union[str, Path]) -> Iterable[str]:
+        """Download data from ``filepath`` and write the data to local path.
+
+        ``get_local_path`` is decorated by :meth:`contxtlib.contextmanager`. It
+        can be called with ``with`` statement, and when exists from the
+        ``with`` statement, the temporary path will be released.
+
+        Note:
+            If the ``filepath`` is a local path, just return itself.
+
+        .. warning::
+            ``get_local_path`` is an experimental interface that may change in
+            the future.
+
+        Args:
+            filepath (str or Path): Path to be read data.
+
+        Examples:
+            >>> file_client = FileClient(prefix='s3')
+            >>> with file_client.get_local_path('s3://bucket/abc.jpg') as path:
+            ...     # do something here
+
+        Yields:
+            Iterable[str]: Only yield one path.
+        """
+        with self.client.get_local_path(str(filepath)) as local_path:
+            yield local_path
+
+    def list_dir_or_file(self,
+                         dir_path: Union[str, Path],
+                         list_dir: bool = True,
+                         list_file: bool = True,
+                         suffix: Optional[Union[str, Tuple[str]]] = None,
+                         recursive: bool = False) -> Iterator[str]:
+        """Scan a directory to find the interested directories or files in
+        arbitrary order.
+
+        Note:
+            :meth:`list_dir_or_file` returns the path relative to ``dir_path``.
+
+        Args:
+            dir_path (str | Path): Path of the directory.
+            list_dir (bool): List the directories. Default: True.
+            list_file (bool): List the path of files. Default: True.
+            suffix (str or tuple[str], optional):  File suffix
+                that we are interested in. Default: None.
+            recursive (bool): If set to True, recursively scan the
+                directory. Default: False.
+
+        Yields:
+            Iterable[str]: A relative path to ``dir_path``.
+        """
+        yield from self.client.list_dir_or_file(dir_path, list_dir, list_file,
+                                                suffix, recursive)
diff --git a/mmcv/fileio/handlers/base.py b/mmcv/fileio/handlers/base.py
index 235727557c..5f28b0acc6 100644
--- a/mmcv/fileio/handlers/base.py
+++ b/mmcv/fileio/handlers/base.py
@@ -3,6 +3,12 @@
 
 
 class BaseFileHandler(metaclass=ABCMeta):
+    # `str_like` is a flag to indicate whether the type of file object is
+    # str-like object or bytes-like object. Pickle only processes bytes-like
+    # objects but json only processes str-like object. If it is str-like
+    # object, `StringIO` will be used to process the buffer.
+
+    str_like = True
 
     @abstractmethod
     def load_from_fileobj(self, file, **kwargs):
diff --git a/mmcv/fileio/handlers/pickle_handler.py b/mmcv/fileio/handlers/pickle_handler.py
index 0250459957..b37c79bed4 100644
--- a/mmcv/fileio/handlers/pickle_handler.py
+++ b/mmcv/fileio/handlers/pickle_handler.py
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@
 
 class PickleHandler(BaseFileHandler):
 
+    str_like = False
+
     def load_from_fileobj(self, file, **kwargs):
         return pickle.load(file, **kwargs)
 
diff --git a/mmcv/fileio/io.py b/mmcv/fileio/io.py
index 015d36e808..aaefde58aa 100644
--- a/mmcv/fileio/io.py
+++ b/mmcv/fileio/io.py
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 # Copyright (c) OpenMMLab. All rights reserved.
+from io import BytesIO, StringIO
 from pathlib import Path
 
 from ..utils import is_list_of, is_str
+from .file_client import FileClient
 from .handlers import BaseFileHandler, JsonHandler, PickleHandler, YamlHandler
 
 file_handlers = {
@@ -13,11 +15,15 @@
 }
 
 
-def load(file, file_format=None, **kwargs):
+def load(file, file_format=None, file_client_args=None, **kwargs):
     """Load data from json/yaml/pickle files.
 
     This method provides a unified api for loading data from serialized files.
 
+    Note:
+        In v1.3.16 and later, ``load`` supports loading data from serialized
+        files those can be storaged in different backends.
+
     Args:
         file (str or :obj:`Path` or file-like object): Filename or a file-like
             object.
@@ -25,6 +31,14 @@ def load(file, file_format=None, **kwargs):
             inferred from the file extension, otherwise use the specified one.
             Currently supported formats include "json", "yaml/yml" and
             "pickle/pkl".
+        file_client_args (dict, optional): Arguments to instantiate a
+            FileClient. See :class:`mmcv.fileio.FileClient` for details.
+            Default: None.
+
+    Examples:
+        >>> load('/path/of/your/file')  # file is storaged in disk
+        >>> load('https://path/of/your/file')  # file is storaged in Internet
+        >>> load('s3://path/of/your/file')  # file is storaged in petrel
 
     Returns:
         The content from the file.
@@ -38,7 +52,13 @@ def load(file, file_format=None, **kwargs):
 
     handler = file_handlers[file_format]
     if is_str(file):
-        obj = handler.load_from_path(file, **kwargs)
+        file_client = FileClient.infer_client(file_client_args, file)
+        if handler.str_like:
+            with StringIO(file_client.get_text(file)) as f:
+                obj = handler.load_from_fileobj(f, **kwargs)
+        else:
+            with BytesIO(file_client.get(file)) as f:
+                obj = handler.load_from_fileobj(f, **kwargs)
     elif hasattr(file, 'read'):
         obj = handler.load_from_fileobj(file, **kwargs)
     else:
@@ -46,18 +66,29 @@ def load(file, file_format=None, **kwargs):
     return obj
 
 
-def dump(obj, file=None, file_format=None, **kwargs):
+def dump(obj, file=None, file_format=None, file_client_args=None, **kwargs):
     """Dump data to json/yaml/pickle strings or files.
 
     This method provides a unified api for dumping data as strings or to files,
     and also supports custom arguments for each file format.
 
+    Note:
+        In v1.3.16 and later, ``dump`` supports dumping data as strings or to
+        files which is saved to different backends.
+
     Args:
         obj (any): The python object to be dumped.
         file (str or :obj:`Path` or file-like object, optional): If not
-            specified, then the object is dump to a str, otherwise to a file
+            specified, then the object is dumped to a str, otherwise to a file
             specified by the filename or file-like object.
         file_format (str, optional): Same as :func:`load`.
+        file_client_args (dict, optional): Arguments to instantiate a
+            FileClient. See :class:`mmcv.fileio.FileClient` for details.
+            Default: None.
+
+    Examples:
+        >>> dump('hello world', '/path/of/your/file')  # disk
+        >>> dump('hello world', 's3://path/of/your/file')  # ceph or petrel
 
     Returns:
         bool: True for success, False otherwise.
@@ -77,7 +108,15 @@ def dump(obj, file=None, file_format=None, **kwargs):
     if file is None:
         return handler.dump_to_str(obj, **kwargs)
     elif is_str(file):
-        handler.dump_to_path(obj, file, **kwargs)
+        file_client = FileClient.infer_client(file_client_args, file)
+        if handler.str_like:
+            with StringIO() as f:
+                handler.dump_to_fileobj(obj, f, **kwargs)
+                file_client.put_text(f.getvalue(), file)
+        else:
+            with BytesIO() as f:
+                handler.dump_to_fileobj(obj, f, **kwargs)
+                file_client.put(f.getvalue(), file)
     elif hasattr(file, 'write'):
         handler.dump_to_fileobj(obj, file, **kwargs)
     else:
diff --git a/mmcv/fileio/parse.py b/mmcv/fileio/parse.py
index 987c9f1104..f60f0d611b 100644
--- a/mmcv/fileio/parse.py
+++ b/mmcv/fileio/parse.py
@@ -1,7 +1,23 @@
 # Copyright (c) OpenMMLab. All rights reserved.
-def list_from_file(filename, prefix='', offset=0, max_num=0, encoding='utf-8'):
+
+from io import StringIO
+
+from .file_client import FileClient
+
+
+def list_from_file(filename,
+                   prefix='',
+                   offset=0,
+                   max_num=0,
+                   encoding='utf-8',
+                   file_client_args=None):
     """Load a text file and parse the content as a list of strings.
 
+    Note:
+        In v1.3.16 and later, ``list_from_file`` supports loading a text file
+        which can be storaged in different backends and parsing the content as
+        a list for strings.
+
     Args:
         filename (str): Filename.
         prefix (str): The prefix to be inserted to the beginning of each item.
@@ -9,13 +25,23 @@ def list_from_file(filename, prefix='', offset=0, max_num=0, encoding='utf-8'):
         max_num (int): The maximum number of lines to be read,
             zeros and negatives mean no limitation.
         encoding (str): Encoding used to open the file. Default utf-8.
+        file_client_args (dict, optional): Arguments to instantiate a
+            FileClient. See :class:`mmcv.fileio.FileClient` for details.
+            Default: None.
+
+    Examples:
+        >>> list_from_file('/path/of/your/file')  # disk
+        ['hello', 'world']
+        >>> list_from_file('s3://path/of/your/file')  # ceph or petrel
+        ['hello', 'world']
 
     Returns:
         list[str]: A list of strings.
     """
     cnt = 0
     item_list = []
-    with open(filename, 'r', encoding=encoding) as f:
+    file_client = FileClient.infer_client(file_client_args, filename)
+    with StringIO(file_client.get_text(filename, encoding)) as f:
         for _ in range(offset):
             f.readline()
         for line in f:
@@ -26,23 +52,42 @@ def list_from_file(filename, prefix='', offset=0, max_num=0, encoding='utf-8'):
     return item_list
 
 
-def dict_from_file(filename, key_type=str):
+def dict_from_file(filename,
+                   key_type=str,
+                   encoding='utf-8',
+                   file_client_args=None):
     """Load a text file and parse the content as a dict.
 
     Each line of the text file will be two or more columns split by
     whitespaces or tabs. The first column will be parsed as dict keys, and
     the following columns will be parsed as dict values.
 
+    Note:
+        In v1.3.16 and later, ``dict_from_file`` supports loading a text file
+        which can be storaged in different backends and parsing the content as
+        a dict.
+
     Args:
         filename(str): Filename.
         key_type(type): Type of the dict keys. str is user by default and
             type conversion will be performed if specified.
+        encoding (str): Encoding used to open the file. Default utf-8.
+        file_client_args (dict, optional): Arguments to instantiate a
+            FileClient. See :class:`mmcv.fileio.FileClient` for details.
+            Default: None.
+
+    Examples:
+        >>> dict_from_file('/path/of/your/file')  # disk
+        {'key1': 'value1', 'key2': 'value2'}
+        >>> dict_from_file('s3://path/of/your/file')  # ceph or petrel
+        {'key1': 'value1', 'key2': 'value2'}
 
     Returns:
         dict: The parsed contents.
     """
     mapping = {}
-    with open(filename, 'r') as f:
+    file_client = FileClient.infer_client(file_client_args, filename)
+    with StringIO(file_client.get_text(filename, encoding)) as f:
         for line in f:
             items = line.rstrip('\n').split()
             assert len(items) >= 2
diff --git a/mmcv/image/photometric.py b/mmcv/image/photometric.py
index 3c1f68f1f5..5085d01201 100644
--- a/mmcv/image/photometric.py
+++ b/mmcv/image/photometric.py
@@ -309,9 +309,9 @@ def adjust_sharpness(img, factor=1., kernel=None):
         kernel (np.ndarray, optional): Filter kernel to be applied on the img
             to obtain the degenerated img. Defaults to None.
 
-    Notes::
+    Note:
         No value sanity check is enforced on the kernel set by users. So with
-        an inappropriate kernel, the `adjust_sharpness` may fail to perform
+        an inappropriate kernel, the ``adjust_sharpness`` may fail to perform
         the function its name indicates but end up performing whatever
         transform determined by the kernel.
 
diff --git a/mmcv/utils/__init__.py b/mmcv/utils/__init__.py
index baf8109f05..378a006843 100644
--- a/mmcv/utils/__init__.py
+++ b/mmcv/utils/__init__.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 # Copyright (c) OpenMMLab. All rights reserved.
 from .config import Config, ConfigDict, DictAction
 from .misc import (check_prerequisites, concat_list, deprecated_api_warning,
-                   import_modules_from_strings, is_list_of,
+                   has_method, import_modules_from_strings, is_list_of,
                    is_method_overridden, is_seq_of, is_str, is_tuple_of,
                    iter_cast, list_cast, requires_executable, requires_package,
                    slice_list, to_1tuple, to_2tuple, to_3tuple, to_4tuple,
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@
         'assert_dict_contains_subset', 'assert_attrs_equal',
         'assert_dict_has_keys', 'assert_keys_equal', 'check_python_script',
         'to_1tuple', 'to_2tuple', 'to_3tuple', 'to_4tuple', 'to_ntuple',
-        'is_method_overridden'
+        'is_method_overridden', 'has_method'
     ]
 else:
     from .env import collect_env
@@ -65,5 +65,5 @@
         'assert_dict_has_keys', 'assert_keys_equal', 'assert_is_norm_layer',
         'assert_params_all_zeros', 'check_python_script',
         'is_method_overridden', 'is_jit_tracing', 'is_rocm_pytorch',
-        '_get_cuda_home'
+        '_get_cuda_home', 'has_method'
     ]
diff --git a/mmcv/utils/misc.py b/mmcv/utils/misc.py
index 488cbdd81f..2c58d0d7fe 100644
--- a/mmcv/utils/misc.py
+++ b/mmcv/utils/misc.py
@@ -362,3 +362,16 @@ def is_method_overridden(method, base_class, derived_class):
     base_method = getattr(base_class, method)
     derived_method = getattr(derived_class, method)
     return derived_method != base_method
+
+
+def has_method(obj: object, method: str) -> bool:
+    """Check whether the object has a method.
+
+    Args:
+        method (str): The method name to check.
+        obj (object): The object to check.
+
+    Returns:
+        bool: True if the object has the method else False.
+    """
+    return hasattr(obj, method) and callable(getattr(obj, method))
diff --git a/tests/test_fileclient.py b/tests/test_fileclient.py
index 80357cf31d..d15483c94c 100644
--- a/tests/test_fileclient.py
+++ b/tests/test_fileclient.py
@@ -1,4 +1,9 @@
+import os
+import os.path as osp
 import sys
+import tempfile
+from contextlib import contextmanager
+from copy import deepcopy
 from pathlib import Path
 from unittest.mock import MagicMock, patch
 
@@ -6,6 +11,7 @@
 
 import mmcv
 from mmcv import BaseStorageBackend, FileClient
+from mmcv.utils import has_method
 
 sys.modules['ceph'] = MagicMock()
 sys.modules['petrel_client'] = MagicMock()
@@ -13,6 +19,51 @@
 sys.modules['mc'] = MagicMock()
 
 
+@contextmanager
+def build_temporary_directory():
+    """Build a temporary directory containing many files to test
+    ``FileClient.list_dir_or_file``.
+
+    . \n
+    | -- dir1 \n
+    | -- | -- text3.txt \n
+    | -- dir2 \n
+    | -- | -- dir3 \n
+    | -- | -- | -- text4.txt \n
+    | -- | -- img.jpg \n
+    | -- text1.txt \n
+    | -- text2.txt \n
+    """
+    with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tmp_dir:
+        text1 = Path(tmp_dir) / 'text1.txt'
+        text1.open('w').write('text1')
+        text2 = Path(tmp_dir) / 'text2.txt'
+        text2.open('w').write('text2')
+        dir1 = Path(tmp_dir) / 'dir1'
+        dir1.mkdir()
+        text3 = dir1 / 'text3.txt'
+        text3.open('w').write('text3')
+        dir2 = Path(tmp_dir) / 'dir2'
+        dir2.mkdir()
+        jpg1 = dir2 / 'img.jpg'
+        jpg1.open('wb').write(b'img')
+        dir3 = dir2 / 'dir3'
+        dir3.mkdir()
+        text4 = dir3 / 'text4.txt'
+        text4.open('w').write('text4')
+        yield tmp_dir
+
+
+@contextmanager
+def delete_and_reset_method(obj, method):
+    method_obj = deepcopy(getattr(type(obj), method))
+    try:
+        delattr(type(obj), method)
+        yield
+    finally:
+        setattr(type(obj), method, method_obj)
+
+
 class MockS3Client:
 
     def __init__(self, enable_mc=True):
@@ -24,6 +75,37 @@ def Get(self, filepath):
         return content
 
 
+class MockPetrelClient:
+
+    def __init__(self, enable_mc=True, enable_multi_cluster=False):
+        self.enable_mc = enable_mc
+        self.enable_multi_cluster = enable_multi_cluster
+
+    def Get(self, filepath):
+        with open(filepath, 'rb') as f:
+            content = f.read()
+        return content
+
+    def put(self):
+        pass
+
+    def delete(self):
+        pass
+
+    def contains(self):
+        pass
+
+    def isdir(self):
+        pass
+
+    def list(self, dir_path):
+        for entry in os.scandir(dir_path):
+            if not entry.name.startswith('.') and entry.is_file():
+                yield entry.name
+            elif osp.isdir(entry.path):
+                yield entry.name + '/'
+
+
 class MockMemcachedClient:
 
     def __init__(self, server_list_cfg, client_cfg):
@@ -50,6 +132,7 @@ def test_error(self):
     def test_disk_backend(self):
         disk_backend = FileClient('disk')
 
+        # test `get`
         # input path is Path object
         img_bytes = disk_backend.get(self.img_path)
         img = mmcv.imfrombytes(img_bytes)
@@ -61,6 +144,7 @@ def test_disk_backend(self):
         assert self.img_path.open('rb').read() == img_bytes
         assert img.shape == self.img_shape
 
+        # test `get_text`
         # input path is Path object
         value_buf = disk_backend.get_text(self.text_path)
         assert self.text_path.open('r').read() == value_buf
@@ -68,6 +152,118 @@ def test_disk_backend(self):
         value_buf = disk_backend.get_text(str(self.text_path))
         assert self.text_path.open('r').read() == value_buf
 
+        with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tmp_dir:
+            # test `put`
+            filepath1 = Path(tmp_dir) / 'test.jpg'
+            disk_backend.put(b'disk', filepath1)
+            assert filepath1.open('rb').read() == b'disk'
+
+            # test `put_text`
+            filepath2 = Path(tmp_dir) / 'test.txt'
+            disk_backend.put_text('disk', filepath2)
+            assert filepath2.open('r').read() == 'disk'
+
+            # test `isfile`
+            assert disk_backend.isfile(filepath2)
+            assert not disk_backend.isfile(Path(tmp_dir) / 'not/existed/path')
+
+            # test `remove`
+            disk_backend.remove(filepath2)
+
+            # test `exists`
+            assert not disk_backend.exists(filepath2)
+
+            # test `get_local_path`
+            # if the backend is disk, `get_local_path` just return the input
+            with disk_backend.get_local_path(filepath1) as path:
+                assert str(filepath1) == path
+            assert osp.isfile(filepath1)
+
+        # test `concat_paths`
+        disk_dir = '/path/of/your/directory'
+        assert disk_backend.concat_paths(disk_dir, 'file') == \
+            osp.join(disk_dir, 'file')
+        assert disk_backend.concat_paths(disk_dir, 'dir', 'file') == \
+            osp.join(disk_dir, 'dir', 'file')
+
+        # test `list_dir_or_file`
+        with build_temporary_directory() as tmp_dir:
+            # 1. list directories and files
+            assert set(disk_backend.list_dir_or_file(tmp_dir)) == set(
+                ['dir1', 'dir2', 'text1.txt', 'text2.txt'])
+            # 2. list directories and files recursively
+            assert set(disk_backend.list_dir_or_file(
+                tmp_dir, recursive=True)) == set([
+                    'dir1',
+                    osp.join('dir1', 'text3.txt'), 'dir2',
+                    osp.join('dir2', 'dir3'),
+                    osp.join('dir2', 'dir3', 'text4.txt'),
+                    osp.join('dir2', 'img.jpg'), 'text1.txt', 'text2.txt'
+                ])
+            # 3. only list directories
+            assert set(
+                disk_backend.list_dir_or_file(
+                    tmp_dir, list_file=False)) == set(['dir1', 'dir2'])
+            with pytest.raises(
+                    TypeError,
+                    match='`suffix` should be None when `list_dir` is True'):
+                # Exception is raised among the `list_dir_or_file` of client,
+                # so we need to invode the client to trigger the exception
+                disk_backend.client.list_dir_or_file(
+                    tmp_dir, list_file=False, suffix='.txt')
+            # 4. only list directories recursively
+            assert set(
+                disk_backend.list_dir_or_file(
+                    tmp_dir, list_file=False, recursive=True)) == set(
+                        ['dir1', 'dir2',
+                         osp.join('dir2', 'dir3')])
+            # 5. only list files
+            assert set(disk_backend.list_dir_or_file(
+                tmp_dir, list_dir=False)) == set(['text1.txt', 'text2.txt'])
+            # 6. only list files recursively
+            assert set(
+                disk_backend.list_dir_or_file(
+                    tmp_dir, list_dir=False, recursive=True)) == set([
+                        osp.join('dir1', 'text3.txt'),
+                        osp.join('dir2', 'dir3', 'text4.txt'),
+                        osp.join('dir2', 'img.jpg'), 'text1.txt', 'text2.txt'
+                    ])
+            # 7. only list files ending with suffix
+            assert set(
+                disk_backend.list_dir_or_file(
+                    tmp_dir, list_dir=False,
+                    suffix='.txt')) == set(['text1.txt', 'text2.txt'])
+            assert set(
+                disk_backend.list_dir_or_file(
+                    tmp_dir, list_dir=False,
+                    suffix=('.txt',
+                            '.jpg'))) == set(['text1.txt', 'text2.txt'])
+            with pytest.raises(
+                    TypeError,
+                    match='`suffix` must be a string or tuple of strings'):
+                disk_backend.client.list_dir_or_file(
+                    tmp_dir, list_dir=False, suffix=['.txt', '.jpg'])
+            # 8. only list files ending with suffix recursively
+            assert set(
+                disk_backend.list_dir_or_file(
+                    tmp_dir, list_dir=False, suffix='.txt',
+                    recursive=True)) == set([
+                        osp.join('dir1', 'text3.txt'),
+                        osp.join('dir2', 'dir3', 'text4.txt'), 'text1.txt',
+                        'text2.txt'
+                    ])
+            # 7. only list files ending with suffix
+            assert set(
+                disk_backend.list_dir_or_file(
+                    tmp_dir,
+                    list_dir=False,
+                    suffix=('.txt', '.jpg'),
+                    recursive=True)) == set([
+                        osp.join('dir1', 'text3.txt'),
+                        osp.join('dir2', 'dir3', 'text4.txt'),
+                        osp.join('dir2', 'img.jpg'), 'text1.txt', 'text2.txt'
+                    ])
+
     @patch('ceph.S3Client', MockS3Client)
     def test_ceph_backend(self):
         ceph_backend = FileClient('ceph')
@@ -103,16 +299,11 @@ def test_ceph_backend(self):
         ceph_backend.client._client.Get.assert_called_with(
             str(self.img_path).replace(str(self.test_data_dir), ceph_path))
 
-    @patch('petrel_client.client.Client', MockS3Client)
-    def test_petrel_backend(self):
-        petrel_backend = FileClient('petrel')
-
-        # input path is Path object
-        with pytest.raises(NotImplementedError):
-            petrel_backend.get_text(self.text_path)
-        # input path is str
-        with pytest.raises(NotImplementedError):
-            petrel_backend.get_text(str(self.text_path))
+    @patch('petrel_client.client.Client', MockPetrelClient)
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize('backend,prefix', [('petrel', None),
+                                                (None, 's3')])
+    def test_petrel_backend(self, backend, prefix):
+        petrel_backend = FileClient(backend=backend, prefix=prefix)
 
         # input path is Path object
         img_bytes = petrel_backend.get(self.img_path)
@@ -126,17 +317,209 @@ def test_petrel_backend(self):
         # `path_mapping` is either None or dict
         with pytest.raises(AssertionError):
             FileClient('petrel', path_mapping=1)
-        # test `path_mapping`
-        petrel_path = 's3://user/data'
+
+        # test `_map_path`
+        petrel_dir = 's3://user/data'
         petrel_backend = FileClient(
-            'petrel', path_mapping={str(self.test_data_dir): petrel_path})
-        petrel_backend.client._client.Get = MagicMock(
-            return_value=petrel_backend.client._client.Get(self.img_path))
-        img_bytes = petrel_backend.get(self.img_path)
-        img = mmcv.imfrombytes(img_bytes)
-        assert img.shape == self.img_shape
-        petrel_backend.client._client.Get.assert_called_with(
-            str(self.img_path).replace(str(self.test_data_dir), petrel_path))
+            'petrel', path_mapping={str(self.test_data_dir): petrel_dir})
+        assert petrel_backend.client._map_path(str(self.img_path)) == \
+            str(self.img_path).replace(str(self.test_data_dir), petrel_dir)
+
+        petrel_path = f'{petrel_dir}/test.jpg'
+        petrel_backend = FileClient('petrel')
+
+        # test `_format_path`
+        assert petrel_backend.client._format_path('s3://user\\data\\test.jpg')\
+            == petrel_path
+
+        # test `get`
+        with patch.object(
+                petrel_backend.client._client, 'Get',
+                return_value=b'petrel') as mock_get:
+            assert petrel_backend.get(petrel_path) == b'petrel'
+            mock_get.assert_called_once_with(petrel_path)
+
+        # test `get_text`
+        with patch.object(
+                petrel_backend.client._client, 'Get',
+                return_value=b'petrel') as mock_get:
+            assert petrel_backend.get_text(petrel_path) == 'petrel'
+            mock_get.assert_called_once_with(petrel_path)
+
+        # test `put`
+        with patch.object(petrel_backend.client._client, 'put') as mock_put:
+            petrel_backend.put(b'petrel', petrel_path)
+            mock_put.assert_called_once_with(petrel_path, b'petrel')
+
+        # test `put_text`
+        with patch.object(petrel_backend.client._client, 'put') as mock_put:
+            petrel_backend.put_text('petrel', petrel_path)
+            mock_put.assert_called_once_with(petrel_path, b'petrel')
+
+        # test `remove`
+        assert has_method(petrel_backend.client._client, 'delete')
+        # raise Exception if `delete` is not implemented
+        with delete_and_reset_method(petrel_backend.client._client, 'delete'):
+            assert not has_method(petrel_backend.client._client, 'delete')
+            with pytest.raises(NotImplementedError):
+                petrel_backend.remove(petrel_path)
+
+        with patch.object(petrel_backend.client._client,
+                          'delete') as mock_delete:
+            petrel_backend.remove(petrel_path)
+            mock_delete.assert_called_once_with(petrel_path)
+
+        # test `exists`
+        assert has_method(petrel_backend.client._client, 'contains')
+        assert has_method(petrel_backend.client._client, 'isdir')
+        # raise Exception if `delete` is not implemented
+        with delete_and_reset_method(petrel_backend.client._client,
+                                     'contains'), delete_and_reset_method(
+                                         petrel_backend.client._client,
+                                         'isdir'):
+            assert not has_method(petrel_backend.client._client, 'contains')
+            assert not has_method(petrel_backend.client._client, 'isdir')
+            with pytest.raises(NotImplementedError):
+                petrel_backend.exists(petrel_path)
+
+        with patch.object(
+                petrel_backend.client._client, 'contains',
+                return_value=True) as mock_contains:
+            assert petrel_backend.exists(petrel_path)
+            mock_contains.assert_called_once_with(petrel_path)
+
+        # test `isdir`
+        assert has_method(petrel_backend.client._client, 'isdir')
+        with delete_and_reset_method(petrel_backend.client._client, 'isdir'):
+            assert not has_method(petrel_backend.client._client, 'isdir')
+            with pytest.raises(NotImplementedError):
+                petrel_backend.isdir(petrel_path)
+
+        with patch.object(
+                petrel_backend.client._client, 'isdir',
+                return_value=True) as mock_isdir:
+            assert petrel_backend.isdir(petrel_dir)
+            mock_isdir.assert_called_once_with(petrel_dir)
+
+        # test `isfile`
+        assert has_method(petrel_backend.client._client, 'contains')
+        with delete_and_reset_method(petrel_backend.client._client,
+                                     'contains'):
+            assert not has_method(petrel_backend.client._client, 'contains')
+            with pytest.raises(NotImplementedError):
+                petrel_backend.isfile(petrel_path)
+
+        with patch.object(
+                petrel_backend.client._client, 'contains',
+                return_value=True) as mock_contains:
+            assert petrel_backend.isfile(petrel_path)
+            mock_contains.assert_called_once_with(petrel_path)
+
+        # test `concat_paths`
+        assert petrel_backend.concat_paths(petrel_dir, 'file') == \
+            f'{petrel_dir}/file'
+        assert petrel_backend.concat_paths(f'{petrel_dir}/', 'file') == \
+            f'{petrel_dir}/file'
+        assert petrel_backend.concat_paths(petrel_dir, 'dir', 'file') == \
+            f'{petrel_dir}/dir/file'
+
+        # test `get_local_path`
+        with patch.object(petrel_backend.client._client, 'Get',
+                          return_value=b'petrel') as mock_get, \
+             patch.object(petrel_backend.client._client, 'contains',
+                          return_value=True) as mock_contains:
+            with petrel_backend.get_local_path(petrel_path) as path:
+                assert Path(path).open('rb').read() == b'petrel'
+            # exist the with block and path will be released
+            assert not osp.isfile(path)
+            mock_get.assert_called_once_with(petrel_path)
+            mock_contains.assert_called_once_with(petrel_path)
+
+        # test `list_dir_or_file`
+        assert has_method(petrel_backend.client._client, 'list')
+        with delete_and_reset_method(petrel_backend.client._client, 'list'):
+            assert not has_method(petrel_backend.client._client, 'list')
+            with pytest.raises(NotImplementedError):
+                list(petrel_backend.list_dir_or_file(petrel_dir))
+
+        with build_temporary_directory() as tmp_dir:
+            # 1. list directories and files
+            assert set(petrel_backend.list_dir_or_file(tmp_dir)) == set(
+                ['dir1', 'dir2', 'text1.txt', 'text2.txt'])
+            # 2. list directories and files recursively
+            assert set(
+                petrel_backend.list_dir_or_file(
+                    tmp_dir, recursive=True)) == set([
+                        'dir1', '/'.join(('dir1', 'text3.txt')), 'dir2',
+                        '/'.join(('dir2', 'dir3')), '/'.join(
+                            ('dir2', 'dir3', 'text4.txt')), '/'.join(
+                                ('dir2', 'img.jpg')), 'text1.txt', 'text2.txt'
+                    ])
+            # 3. only list directories
+            assert set(
+                petrel_backend.list_dir_or_file(
+                    tmp_dir, list_file=False)) == set(['dir1', 'dir2'])
+            with pytest.raises(
+                    TypeError,
+                    match=('`list_dir` should be False when `suffix` is not '
+                           'None')):
+                # Exception is raised among the `list_dir_or_file` of client,
+                # so we need to invode the client to trigger the exception
+                petrel_backend.client.list_dir_or_file(
+                    tmp_dir, list_file=False, suffix='.txt')
+            # 4. only list directories recursively
+            assert set(
+                petrel_backend.list_dir_or_file(
+                    tmp_dir, list_file=False, recursive=True)) == set(
+                        ['dir1', 'dir2', '/'.join(('dir2', 'dir3'))])
+            # 5. only list files
+            assert set(
+                petrel_backend.list_dir_or_file(tmp_dir,
+                                                list_dir=False)) == set(
+                                                    ['text1.txt', 'text2.txt'])
+            # 6. only list files recursively
+            assert set(
+                petrel_backend.list_dir_or_file(
+                    tmp_dir, list_dir=False, recursive=True)) == set([
+                        '/'.join(('dir1', 'text3.txt')), '/'.join(
+                            ('dir2', 'dir3', 'text4.txt')), '/'.join(
+                                ('dir2', 'img.jpg')), 'text1.txt', 'text2.txt'
+                    ])
+            # 7. only list files ending with suffix
+            assert set(
+                petrel_backend.list_dir_or_file(
+                    tmp_dir, list_dir=False,
+                    suffix='.txt')) == set(['text1.txt', 'text2.txt'])
+            assert set(
+                petrel_backend.list_dir_or_file(
+                    tmp_dir, list_dir=False,
+                    suffix=('.txt',
+                            '.jpg'))) == set(['text1.txt', 'text2.txt'])
+            with pytest.raises(
+                    TypeError,
+                    match='`suffix` must be a string or tuple of strings'):
+                petrel_backend.client.list_dir_or_file(
+                    tmp_dir, list_dir=False, suffix=['.txt', '.jpg'])
+            # 8. only list files ending with suffix recursively
+            assert set(
+                petrel_backend.list_dir_or_file(
+                    tmp_dir, list_dir=False, suffix='.txt',
+                    recursive=True)) == set([
+                        '/'.join(('dir1', 'text3.txt')), '/'.join(
+                            ('dir2', 'dir3', 'text4.txt')), 'text1.txt',
+                        'text2.txt'
+                    ])
+            # 7. only list files ending with suffix
+            assert set(
+                petrel_backend.list_dir_or_file(
+                    tmp_dir,
+                    list_dir=False,
+                    suffix=('.txt', '.jpg'),
+                    recursive=True)) == set([
+                        '/'.join(('dir1', 'text3.txt')), '/'.join(
+                            ('dir2', 'dir3', 'text4.txt')), '/'.join(
+                                ('dir2', 'img.jpg')), 'text1.txt', 'text2.txt'
+                    ])
 
     @patch('mc.MemcachedClient.GetInstance', MockMemcachedClient)
     @patch('mc.pyvector', MagicMock)
@@ -182,8 +565,10 @@ def test_lmdb_backend(self):
         img = mmcv.imfrombytes(img_bytes)
         assert img.shape == (120, 125, 3)
 
-    def test_http_backend(self):
-        http_backend = FileClient('http')
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize('backend,prefix', [('http', None),
+                                                (None, 'http')])
+    def test_http_backend(self, backend, prefix):
+        http_backend = FileClient(backend=backend, prefix=prefix)
         img_url = 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/open-mmlab/mmcv/' \
             'master/tests/data/color.jpg'
         text_url = 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/open-mmlab/mmcv/' \
@@ -208,6 +593,84 @@ def test_http_backend(self):
         value_buf = http_backend.get_text(text_url)
         assert self.text_path.open('r').read() == value_buf
 
+        # test `_get_local_path`
+        # exist the with block and path will be released
+        with http_backend.get_local_path(img_url) as path:
+            assert mmcv.imread(path).shape == self.img_shape
+        assert not osp.isfile(path)
+
+    def test_new_magic_method(self):
+
+        class DummyBackend1(BaseStorageBackend):
+
+            def get(self, filepath):
+                return filepath
+
+            def get_text(self, filepath, encoding='utf-8'):
+                return filepath
+
+        FileClient.register_backend('dummy_backend', DummyBackend1)
+        client1 = FileClient(backend='dummy_backend')
+        client2 = FileClient(backend='dummy_backend')
+        assert client1 is client2
+
+        # if a backend is overwrote, it will disable the singleton pattern for
+        # the backend
+        class DummyBackend2(BaseStorageBackend):
+
+            def get(self, filepath):
+                pass
+
+            def get_text(self, filepath):
+                pass
+
+        FileClient.register_backend('dummy_backend', DummyBackend2, force=True)
+        client3 = FileClient(backend='dummy_backend')
+        client4 = FileClient(backend='dummy_backend')
+        assert client3 is not client4
+
+    def test_parse_uri_prefix(self):
+        # input path is None
+        with pytest.raises(AssertionError):
+            FileClient.parse_uri_prefix(None)
+        # input path is list
+        with pytest.raises(AssertionError):
+            FileClient.parse_uri_prefix([])
+
+        # input path is Path object
+        assert FileClient.parse_uri_prefix(self.img_path) is None
+        # input path is str
+        assert FileClient.parse_uri_prefix(str(self.img_path)) is None
+
+        # input path starts with https
+        img_url = 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/open-mmlab/mmcv/' \
+            'master/tests/data/color.jpg'
+        assert FileClient.parse_uri_prefix(img_url) == 'https'
+
+        # input path starts with s3
+        img_url = 's3://your_bucket/img.png'
+        assert FileClient.parse_uri_prefix(img_url) == 's3'
+
+        # input path starts with clusterName:s3
+        img_url = 'clusterName:s3://your_bucket/img.png'
+        assert FileClient.parse_uri_prefix(img_url) == 's3'
+
+    def test_infer_client(self):
+        # HardDiskBackend
+        file_client_args = {'backend': 'disk'}
+        client = FileClient.infer_client(file_client_args)
+        assert client.backend_name == 'disk'
+        client = FileClient.infer_client(uri=self.img_path)
+        assert client.backend_name == 'disk'
+
+        # PetrelBackend
+        file_client_args = {'backend': 'petrel'}
+        client = FileClient.infer_client(file_client_args)
+        assert client.backend_name == 'petrel'
+        uri = 's3://user_data'
+        client = FileClient.infer_client(uri=uri)
+        assert client.backend_name == 'petrel'
+
     def test_register_backend(self):
 
         # name must be a string
@@ -235,7 +698,7 @@ class ExampleBackend(BaseStorageBackend):
             def get(self, filepath):
                 return filepath
 
-            def get_text(self, filepath):
+            def get_text(self, filepath, encoding='utf-8'):
                 return filepath
 
         FileClient.register_backend('example', ExampleBackend)
@@ -247,9 +710,9 @@ def get_text(self, filepath):
         class Example2Backend(BaseStorageBackend):
 
             def get(self, filepath):
-                return 'bytes2'
+                return b'bytes2'
 
-            def get_text(self, filepath):
+            def get_text(self, filepath, encoding='utf-8'):
                 return 'text2'
 
         # force=False
@@ -258,20 +721,20 @@ def get_text(self, filepath):
 
         FileClient.register_backend('example', Example2Backend, force=True)
         example_backend = FileClient('example')
-        assert example_backend.get(self.img_path) == 'bytes2'
+        assert example_backend.get(self.img_path) == b'bytes2'
         assert example_backend.get_text(self.text_path) == 'text2'
 
         @FileClient.register_backend(name='example3')
         class Example3Backend(BaseStorageBackend):
 
             def get(self, filepath):
-                return 'bytes3'
+                return b'bytes3'
 
-            def get_text(self, filepath):
+            def get_text(self, filepath, encoding='utf-8'):
                 return 'text3'
 
         example_backend = FileClient('example3')
-        assert example_backend.get(self.img_path) == 'bytes3'
+        assert example_backend.get(self.img_path) == b'bytes3'
         assert example_backend.get_text(self.text_path) == 'text3'
         assert 'example3' in FileClient._backends
 
@@ -282,20 +745,89 @@ def get_text(self, filepath):
             class Example4Backend(BaseStorageBackend):
 
                 def get(self, filepath):
-                    return 'bytes4'
+                    return b'bytes4'
 
-                def get_text(self, filepath):
+                def get_text(self, filepath, encoding='utf-8'):
                     return 'text4'
 
         @FileClient.register_backend(name='example3', force=True)
         class Example5Backend(BaseStorageBackend):
 
             def get(self, filepath):
-                return 'bytes5'
+                return b'bytes5'
 
-            def get_text(self, filepath):
+            def get_text(self, filepath, encoding='utf-8'):
                 return 'text5'
 
         example_backend = FileClient('example3')
-        assert example_backend.get(self.img_path) == 'bytes5'
+        assert example_backend.get(self.img_path) == b'bytes5'
         assert example_backend.get_text(self.text_path) == 'text5'
+
+        # prefixes is a str
+        class Example6Backend(BaseStorageBackend):
+
+            def get(self, filepath):
+                return b'bytes6'
+
+            def get_text(self, filepath, encoding='utf-8'):
+                return 'text6'
+
+        FileClient.register_backend(
+            'example4',
+            Example6Backend,
+            force=True,
+            prefixes='example4_prefix')
+        example_backend = FileClient('example4')
+        assert example_backend.get(self.img_path) == b'bytes6'
+        assert example_backend.get_text(self.text_path) == 'text6'
+        example_backend = FileClient(prefix='example4_prefix')
+        assert example_backend.get(self.img_path) == b'bytes6'
+        assert example_backend.get_text(self.text_path) == 'text6'
+        example_backend = FileClient('example4', prefix='example4_prefix')
+        assert example_backend.get(self.img_path) == b'bytes6'
+        assert example_backend.get_text(self.text_path) == 'text6'
+
+        # prefixes is a list of str
+        class Example7Backend(BaseStorageBackend):
+
+            def get(self, filepath):
+                return b'bytes7'
+
+            def get_text(self, filepath, encoding='utf-8'):
+                return 'text7'
+
+        FileClient.register_backend(
+            'example5',
+            Example7Backend,
+            force=True,
+            prefixes=['example5_prefix1', 'example5_prefix2'])
+        example_backend = FileClient('example5')
+        assert example_backend.get(self.img_path) == b'bytes7'
+        assert example_backend.get_text(self.text_path) == 'text7'
+        example_backend = FileClient(prefix='example5_prefix1')
+        assert example_backend.get(self.img_path) == b'bytes7'
+        assert example_backend.get_text(self.text_path) == 'text7'
+        example_backend = FileClient(prefix='example5_prefix2')
+        assert example_backend.get(self.img_path) == b'bytes7'
+        assert example_backend.get_text(self.text_path) == 'text7'
+
+        # backend has a higher priority than prefixes
+        class Example8Backend(BaseStorageBackend):
+
+            def get(self, filepath):
+                return b'bytes8'
+
+            def get_text(self, filepath, encoding='utf-8'):
+                return 'text8'
+
+        FileClient.register_backend(
+            'example6',
+            Example8Backend,
+            force=True,
+            prefixes='example6_prefix')
+        example_backend = FileClient('example6')
+        assert example_backend.get(self.img_path) == b'bytes8'
+        assert example_backend.get_text(self.text_path) == 'text8'
+        example_backend = FileClient('example6', prefix='example4_prefix')
+        assert example_backend.get(self.img_path) == b'bytes8'
+        assert example_backend.get_text(self.text_path) == 'text8'
diff --git a/tests/test_fileio.py b/tests/test_fileio.py
index a9d70f515a..556a44a133 100644
--- a/tests/test_fileio.py
+++ b/tests/test_fileio.py
@@ -1,11 +1,17 @@
 # Copyright (c) OpenMMLab. All rights reserved.
 import os
 import os.path as osp
+import sys
 import tempfile
+from unittest.mock import MagicMock, patch
 
 import pytest
 
 import mmcv
+from mmcv.fileio.file_client import HTTPBackend, PetrelBackend
+
+sys.modules['petrel_client'] = MagicMock()
+sys.modules['petrel_client.client'] = MagicMock()
 
 
 def _test_handler(file_format, test_obj, str_checker, mode='r+'):
@@ -13,7 +19,7 @@ def _test_handler(file_format, test_obj, str_checker, mode='r+'):
     dump_str = mmcv.dump(test_obj, file_format=file_format)
     str_checker(dump_str)
 
-    # load/dump with filenames
+    # load/dump with filenames from disk
     tmp_filename = osp.join(tempfile.gettempdir(), 'mmcv_test_dump')
     mmcv.dump(test_obj, tmp_filename, file_format=file_format)
     assert osp.isfile(tmp_filename)
@@ -21,6 +27,13 @@ def _test_handler(file_format, test_obj, str_checker, mode='r+'):
     assert load_obj == test_obj
     os.remove(tmp_filename)
 
+    # load/dump with filename from petrel
+    method = 'put' if 'b' in mode else 'put_text'
+    with patch.object(PetrelBackend, method, return_value=None) as mock_method:
+        filename = 's3://path/of/your/file'
+        mmcv.dump(test_obj, filename, file_format=file_format)
+    mock_method.assert_called()
+
     # json load/dump with a file-like object
     with tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile(mode, delete=False) as f:
         tmp_filename = f.name
@@ -122,6 +135,7 @@ def dump_to_str(self, obj, **kwargs):
 
 
 def test_list_from_file():
+    # get list from disk
     filename = osp.join(osp.dirname(__file__), 'data/filelist.txt')
     filelist = mmcv.list_from_file(filename)
     assert filelist == ['1.jpg', '2.jpg', '3.jpg', '4.jpg', '5.jpg']
@@ -134,10 +148,64 @@ def test_list_from_file():
     filelist = mmcv.list_from_file(filename, offset=3, max_num=3)
     assert filelist == ['4.jpg', '5.jpg']
 
+    # get list from http
+    with patch.object(
+            HTTPBackend, 'get_text', return_value='1.jpg\n2.jpg\n3.jpg'):
+        filename = 'http://path/of/your/file'
+        filelist = mmcv.list_from_file(
+            filename, file_client_args={'backend': 'http'})
+        assert filelist == ['1.jpg', '2.jpg', '3.jpg']
+        filelist = mmcv.list_from_file(
+            filename, file_client_args={'prefix': 'http'})
+        assert filelist == ['1.jpg', '2.jpg', '3.jpg']
+        filelist = mmcv.list_from_file(filename)
+        assert filelist == ['1.jpg', '2.jpg', '3.jpg']
+
+    # get list from petrel
+    with patch.object(
+            PetrelBackend, 'get_text', return_value='1.jpg\n2.jpg\n3.jpg'):
+        filename = 's3://path/of/your/file'
+        filelist = mmcv.list_from_file(
+            filename, file_client_args={'backend': 'petrel'})
+        assert filelist == ['1.jpg', '2.jpg', '3.jpg']
+        filelist = mmcv.list_from_file(
+            filename, file_client_args={'prefix': 's3'})
+        assert filelist == ['1.jpg', '2.jpg', '3.jpg']
+        filelist = mmcv.list_from_file(filename)
+        assert filelist == ['1.jpg', '2.jpg', '3.jpg']
+
 
 def test_dict_from_file():
+    # get dict from disk
     filename = osp.join(osp.dirname(__file__), 'data/mapping.txt')
     mapping = mmcv.dict_from_file(filename)
     assert mapping == {'1': 'cat', '2': ['dog', 'cow'], '3': 'panda'}
     mapping = mmcv.dict_from_file(filename, key_type=int)
     assert mapping == {1: 'cat', 2: ['dog', 'cow'], 3: 'panda'}
+
+    # get dict from http
+    with patch.object(
+            HTTPBackend, 'get_text', return_value='1 cat\n2 dog cow\n3 panda'):
+        filename = 'http://path/of/your/file'
+        mapping = mmcv.dict_from_file(
+            filename, file_client_args={'backend': 'http'})
+        assert mapping == {'1': 'cat', '2': ['dog', 'cow'], '3': 'panda'}
+        mapping = mmcv.dict_from_file(
+            filename, file_client_args={'prefix': 'http'})
+        assert mapping == {'1': 'cat', '2': ['dog', 'cow'], '3': 'panda'}
+        mapping = mmcv.dict_from_file(filename)
+        assert mapping == {'1': 'cat', '2': ['dog', 'cow'], '3': 'panda'}
+
+    # get dict from petrel
+    with patch.object(
+            PetrelBackend, 'get_text',
+            return_value='1 cat\n2 dog cow\n3 panda'):
+        filename = 's3://path/of/your/file'
+        mapping = mmcv.dict_from_file(
+            filename, file_client_args={'backend': 'petrel'})
+        assert mapping == {'1': 'cat', '2': ['dog', 'cow'], '3': 'panda'}
+        mapping = mmcv.dict_from_file(
+            filename, file_client_args={'prefix': 's3'})
+        assert mapping == {'1': 'cat', '2': ['dog', 'cow'], '3': 'panda'}
+        mapping = mmcv.dict_from_file(filename)
+        assert mapping == {'1': 'cat', '2': ['dog', 'cow'], '3': 'panda'}
diff --git a/tests/test_utils/test_misc.py b/tests/test_utils/test_misc.py
index 1c7ed5a9ff..6070624c3e 100644
--- a/tests/test_utils/test_misc.py
+++ b/tests/test_utils/test_misc.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 
 import mmcv
 from mmcv import deprecated_api_warning
+from mmcv.utils.misc import has_method
 
 
 def test_to_ntuple():
@@ -193,6 +194,21 @@ def foo1():
         mmcv.is_method_overridden('foo1', base_instance, sub_instance)
 
 
+def test_has_method():
+
+    class Foo:
+
+        def __init__(self, name):
+            self.name = name
+
+        def print_name(self):
+            print(self.name)
+
+    foo = Foo('foo')
+    assert not has_method(foo, 'name')
+    assert has_method(foo, 'print_name')
+
+
 def test_deprecated_api_warning():
 
     @deprecated_api_warning(name_dict=dict(old_key='new_key'))