The compositions of hydrogen and oxygen stable isotopes (δD and δ¹⁸O) in lake water are important proxies to study regional precipitation and hydrological cycle. At present, the research on hydrogen and oxygen stable isotopes of lake water mainly focused on a single lake. In this study, combined with hydrogen and oxygen stable isotopes in local summer precipitation, the lake salinity, the elevation and latitude of the lakes, 33 lake water samples collected in western China in the summer of 2016 were used to investigate the spatial variations of δD and δ¹⁸O in water of 33 lakes and their controlling factors. The results showed that the compositions of δD and δ¹⁸O in lake water dominated by precipitation. Due to the influence of evaporation on isotopic fractionation, the stable isotope slope and intercept of Lake Water Line in western China are below these of the Global Meteoric Water Line. Spatial distribution of the hydrogen and oxygen isotopes in 33 lake waters varies in different regions, which is mainly controlled by the hydrogen and oxygen isotope components of meteoric waters in different regions rather than lake salinity. The hydrogen and oxygen isotopes of lake waters in the Tibetan Plateau are characterized by “high north and low south”, which is caused by different water vapor sources and evaporation between the north and south of the Tibetan Plateau. In northwestern Xinjiang affected by westerlies, the hydrogen and oxygen stable isotopes are negative, while the lake water isotopes in Inner Mongolia and adjacent areas controlled by East Asia monsoon are positive subjected to evaporation fractionation. The d_excess of lake waters in different regions may reflect diverse water vapor source rather than the evaporation effects of lake water. Influenced by the precipitation, the compositions of hydrogen and oxygen isotopes in the lakes of the Tibetan Plateau are negatively correlated with altitude and positively correlated with latitude.