As the “Mercury capital” in China,Hg pollution in Wanshan Hg mining area is serious though large-scale state owned Hg mining activities were completely shut down in 2004.We carried out a series of field work to analyze the pollution of Hg from atmosphere to soil,and the results revealed that soil was the largest sink with the concentrations of Hg ranging from 0.1 to 790 mg kg-1.Geochemical background in bedrocks,emission from historical large-scale Hg retorting,current artisanal Hg retorting operations,as well as Hg-polluted irrigation water,were considered to be sources of Hg in soil in Wanshan.By comparison,anthropogenic activities,including artisanal Hg mining activity and Hg-polluted irrigation water,were the most important sources to soil.Accordingly,the total budget of Hg in soil contributed from anthropogenic sources was estimated to be 1,227 t in arable soil and 75 t in natural soil.On an annual basis,approximately 189 kg of Hg in ambient air might enter into soil via wet/dry deposition of Hg in Wanshan.Besides,in the surface of soil,505 kg yr-1 of Hg would be migrated because of soil erosion,and about 10 kg yr-1 of Hg entered into surface water with runoff finally.