Abstract: As one of the components of soil ecosystems, soil enzymes are biological catalysts in ecological systems, playing an important role in the process of soil material cycling and energy conversion. In this research, soil from a site at 1191-2656 m elevation in Xinjiang Yili Chabuchar county was studied. The variation in soil enzyme activity at different altitudes, the vertical distribution of soil enzymes and the effect of soil fertility on soil enzyme activities were evaluated. The activities of catalase, alkaline phosphatase, urease and invertase were 0.237-0.722 mg·(g·20 min)^-1, 0.767-2.673 mg·(g·24 h)^-1, 0.029-0.106 mg·(g·24 h)^-1, and 3.384-23.801 mg·(g·24 h)^-1, respectively. Soil enzyme activities were greater in the topsoil than in the subsoil layers. Enzyme activity increased with increase in altitude. Activities of urease and invertase in 0-20 cm soil layer were significantly positively correlated with altitude, while in 20-40 cm layer, this was true for alkaline phosphatase only, and in 40-60 cm layer urease activity was positively and significantly correlated with altitude. The soil enzyme activity and organic matter tended to show similar patterns, but correlations were not significant. It was also found that with increase in soil depth, the correlation between soil enzyme activity and soil fertility diminished.