The modern pollen assemblages of surface lake sediments and topsoils in northwestern China were studied to understand the relationship of modern pollen data with contemporary vegetation and climate, and the differences between the pollen assemblages of surface lake sediments and topsoils. The results show that Chenopodiaceae and Artemisia are dominant elements in the pollen assemblages of northwestern China. Additionally, Ephedra, Cyperaceae, Asteraceae, Poaceae, Picea, Pinus, and Betula are also important pollen taxa. Both pollen assemblages and principal component analysis indicate that pollen data from surface lake sediments and topsoils can be used to differentiate the main vegetation types of this region (desert, steppe, meadow and forest). However, differences exist between modern pollen assemblages of the two types of sediments due to the different relevant source areas of pollen and degrees of pollen preservation. For example, the larger relevant source area of surface lake sediment results in a higher abundance of Betula in pollen assemblage from surface lake sediment, whereas the tendency to disintegrate thin-walled pollen types in topsoil leads to a higher proportion of resistant pollen, such as Asteraceae. Linear regression analysis indicates that the Artemisia/Chenopodiaceae (A/C) ratio in pollen assemblages of surface lake sediments can be used to indicate humidity changes in the study area. However, the A/C ratio in topsoils should be used carefully. Our results suggest that pollen data from surface lake sediments would be better references for interpreting the fossil pollen assemblages of lake cores or lacustrine profiles. Pollen data have been used to unravel the vegetation succession and climatic changes of the past since the pioneering work of von Post in 1916(Davis, 2000. The deciphering of fossil pollen data must be performed on the basis of the investigation of modern pollen assemblages. Numerous studies (e.g., Wright et al., 1967;Gaillard et al., 1992;Sugita, 1994;Cour et al., 1999;Davis, 2000;Shen et al., 2006;Ma et al., 2008;Zhao and Herzschuh, 2009;Herzschuh et al., 2010;Lu et al., 2011;Fall, 2012;Zheng et al., 2013;Tian et al., 2014) have been conducted to understand the relationship of modern pollen assemblages with contemporary vegetation and climate. Modern pollen assemblages are mainly collected from airborne pollen collectors (e.g., Cour et al