A high-resolution study of bulk properties in a peat sequence from the Xinjiang Altai Mountains of northwestern China, has allowed reconstruction of local variations in peat properties and peat C and N accumulation rates (CAR and NAR) during the Holocene. Analyses of peat bulk density, loss on ignition, and concentrations of TOC and TN and their elemental ratios and stable isotopic values suggest that changes in peat-forming vegetation types during different parts of this epoch are the major factors responsible for the variations of peat properties in this sequence.