[Background]In temperate deserts of China,Reaumuria soongarica is one of the dominant species. This study aim to explore the response of seed germination and emergence to precipitation patterns. Which would provide a scientific basis for further study of the response characteristics of typical desert plants under the background of global climate change. [Methods]The experiment,under artificial control conditions,were composed by two parts: 1) 2 water absorption and 4 drought time gradients,2) 5 precipitation gradients and 6 precipitation frequencies. [Results]1) The seed germination of R. soongarica was significantly affected by the duration of drought (P < 0.01). Compared with the control, the germination rate of R. soongarica seeds with water absorption (1 d or 2 d) was significantly increased after short-term drought (1 d,2 d and 4 d). The germination rate would decrease after a long-term drought (8 d). 2) Seedling emergence of R. soongarica was significantly affected by precipitation quantity and precipitation frequency (P < 0.01). The emergence rate was increased with the increase of precipitation frequency. When the precipitation rate quantity is 30 times/month and precipitation frequency is 100 mm, the emergence rate is the highest. 3) The length of radicle and the duration of drought had significant effects on the ability of seedlings to regain growth after rewatering (P < 0.01). The ability of seedlings to regain growth after rewatering decreased with the increase of radicle length before drought. Under the same radicle length,prolonging the drought time will reduce the ability of seedlings to resume growth after rehydration. [Conclusions]The optimal precipitation of R. soongarica seedlings is 100 mm,and the best precipitation frequency is 30 times/month. The changes of precipitation quantity and precipitation frequency caused by climate change will significantly affect the regeneration of R. soongarica seedlings.