Abstract: Water as an essential environmental factor for the plant normal life activities, plays a vital role in plant growth and development. Elucidation of the physiological response and adaptation mechanisms of plants to water stress helps to take technical measures to protect plants from stress harm and improve the ability of resistance to stress, and it has great significance in breeding to select high tolerant plants of water stress. This review deals with the influence of water stress on membrane lipid peroxidation, antioxidant enzyme activity, osmotic adjustment substance, photosynthetic physiology and the physiological adaptation and response of bamboo to water stress. We also put forward some prospects for bamboo studies in future, such as the gene expression under water stress, physiological integration, hormone regulation, selection and application of water logging tolerant species.