Located in the northeastern of Qinghai-Tibet plateau, the southern slope of Qilian Mountains is the significant water conservation and alpine ecologically vulnerable area in northwestern inland of China. In recent years, the ecological environment of the southern slope has significantly changed due to global warming and human activities. This paper studied the water-holding capacity of litter and soil in different vegetation types and the reasons for water-holding variability among different vegetation types using the physicochemical properties of soils. The results showed that there were significant differences in water-holding capacity of litter among different vegetation types. The litter amount of growing stock were followed the following order: Picea crassifolia (17.80 t·hm~(-2))> Mixed shrub (15.50 t·hm~(-2))> Cypress Qilian (6.08 t·hm~(-2))> Alpine meadow (4.08 t·hm~(-2))> Alpine grassland (3.33 t·hm~(-2)). Natural moisture content of shrubs (7.58 t·hm~(-2))> Picea crassifolia (2.13 t·hm~(-2))> Alpine meadow (1.25 t·hm~(-2))> Alpine grassland (1.17 t·hm~(-2))> Cypress Qilian (0.75 t·hm~(-2)); the maximum water-holding capacity of Picea crassifolia (30.33 t·hm~(-2))> Mixed shrub (19.67 t·hm~(-2))> Cypress Qilian (10.25 t·hm~(-2))> Alpine meadow (4.08 t·hm~(-2))> Alpine grassland (3.17 t·hm~(-2)). There were significant differences in soil water content (P <0.01), soil water storage (P <0.05), and soil saturated storage (P <0.001) among different vegetation types. The bulk density, total porosity, sand content, silt content, clay content, and organic matter content of the soils among vegetation types were significantly different due to their site conditions and growth micro-environment. It was found that the physicochemical properties of the soils had significant effects on the water-holding performance of vegetation types. Soil bulk density and sand content were negatively correlated with the soil water-holding capacity, respectively; while soil silt content, clay content, total porosity and organic matter content were positively correlated with the soil water-holding capacity, respectively.