Abstract: In order to study the variations of five pesticide residues in tobacco leaves before harvesting and after flue-curing and soils, an ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method was developed for the quantification of the residues in test samples. Samples were extracted with acetonitrile and cleaned up by primary secondary amine (PSA) sorbent, then detected by UPLC-MS/MS. Quantitative methods were established using matrix-matched calibration standards and internal standards. The results showed that: 1) For tobacco samples, the limits of quantification (LOQs) ranged from 12.25 to 37.48 μg/kg and the recoveries were from 74% to 117% at three spiked levels. For soil samples, LOQs ranged from 0.11 to 0.34 μg/kg and the recoveries were from 78% to 107% at three spiked levels. 2) In field trails, the five pesticides were applied to tobacco plants at their maximum permissible levels on the 15th day before tobacco harvesting. The residues of imidacloprid, triadimefon (including the metabolite triadimenol of its residue) and butralin in upper and middle tobacco leaves gradually decreased with the proceeding of time. The residues of propamocarb and isoprothiolane increased first and then decreased, and the final residues of the five pesticides in flue-cured leaves were lower than 2.70 mg/kg, which were below the guidance residue levels (GRLs) of CORESTA. For soil samples, imidacloprid residue gradually decreased, triadimefon, isoprothiolane and propamocarb residues increased first and then decreased, and butralin residue slightly increased with the proceeding of time.