A pot experiment was conducted to study the differences of uptake and translocation of Cd and Pb in four water spinach cultivars, including two low-Cd-Pb cultivars and two high-Cd-Pb cultivars. The results showed that the characteristics of low-Cd-Pb and high-Cd-Pb accumulation were stable in the two types of cultivars, respectively. The differences in shoot Cd concentration between low-Cd-Pb and high-Cd-Pb cultivars were attributable to the differences of Cd uptake and translocation from root to shoot, but the differences of shoot Pb concentration appeared to be driven by whole-plant Pb uptake rather than by Pb translocation from root to shoot.