Abstract: To solve seasonal water shortage in south China, different tea plant adaptability to soil moisture were analyzed in this paper which can provide a theoretical guide of tea plant cultivation. In experiments under different conditions of soil moisture that normal supply (soil moisture was 75% field water holding capacity), mild water stress (55% ), moderate water stress (35% ) and severe water stress (20% ), photosynthetic characteristics and water use efficiency (WUE) of 1-year-old seedlings of five tea varieties (Camellia sinensis‘Huangdan’,‘JinXuan’,‘YingHong 9th’,‘HongYan 12th’and‘QingXin 1st’) were researched in pot experiments. The results tested that photosynthetic rate (Pn), transpiration rate (Tr), stomatal conductance (Gs), WUE and other physiological factors showed significant impact on different soil water treatment. Under water stress Pn, Tr, Gs of tea plant decline and the mean value of WUE decline smaller than Pn. The Pn and WUE of‘Yinghong 9th’decreased fastest. Mean Pn value was 1.47μmolCO2/(m2·s) in T3 treatment that reduced 80% than CK and mean WUE reduced 51.5% than CK. In the same conditions‘Jinxuan’,‘Hongyan 12th’and‘Qingxin 1st’showed better ecological adaptability to soil water moisture and‘Yinghong 9th’was the weakest. Cultivation techniques supporting should be matched in varieties promotion.