Abstract: The fundamental principles, approaches and orientation for vegetation restoration in the dry-hot valleys of Jinshajiang River were discussed according to the climatic feature, water holding capacity of the soil and the history of local vegetation succession. The main conclusions were as follow:The characters of current vegetation in the dry-hot valleys mainly resulted in the climate change as the elevation rising, but anthropogenic activities accelerated the converse succession course of local vegetation. The nonsynchronization course between the increases of rainfall and temperature was the major reason to cause the difficulties for vegetation restoration in the area. The difference in micro-climate conditions, especially the difference in evaporation was the external factor to cause the vegetation change, while the storage of available soil water and the soil moisture consuming velocity were the two decisive factors to determine how well the plants could grow in the dry season. Maintaining effective soil moisture in the summer might be the critical problem for vegetation restoration that could be realized by a number of water saving approaches including soil structure amelioration, promotion of water holding capacity of the soil, enhancement of water infiltration into the soil, and evaporation reduction by surface soil. The orientation of vegetation restoration in the dry-hot valley should be to form stable plant communities by referring to close-to-nature forestry principles and moderately taking silvicultural and water saving techniques to improve the restoration effect.