A hydroponic experiment was conducted to investigate differences in Cd accumulation in shoots of Chinese cabbage at the seedling stage between 13 cultivars.Results indicate that Cd contents in shoot and root varied sharply with the cultivars,among which,Cabbage 603 had a lower Cd contentin shoots(104.7 mg kg^-1 )and showed a higher Cd tolerance index,suggesting that this cultivar grown in slightly polluted soil posed less risk to food chain.It was also found that contents and composition of chlorophyll also varied significantly between cultivars different in tolerance index,under Cd stress.