Water stable isotopes （δ） are inherent in the water cycle， changing during water phase changes， and hence widely used to study moisture trajectory and water cycle. Their application to the study of atmospheric circulations over the Tibetan Plateau （TP） has led to a comprehensive understanding in the past decades. This review focuses on field sampling across the extensive TP， and summarizes the spatial and temporal variation patterns in water stable isotopes in precipitation， surface water and ice cores. Complex circulation patterns are found to affect the altitude effect in water stable isotopes， so that monsoon yields a smaller altitudinal lapse rate than westerly， which in extreme cases can result in increasing isotopic composition with increasing altitudes； though the precipitation isotopes have a prevailing dominance over surface water isotopic features. The sensitive response of precipitation stable isotopes to convection is also applied to the judgement of monsoon onset based on abrupt， continuous and significant decrease in δ. Accordingly， the submonsoon system is found to onset earlier over the Bay of Bengal than the South China Sea and varies diversely under global warming. A long-term perspective into atmospheric circulation over the Tibetan Plateau from ice core δ reveals significant impacts of El Nin?o-Southern Oscillation （ENSO） on the TP， with a dampening effect on the temperature significance of ice core isotopes in the southern TP under the monsoon dominance， while a lagged correlation between ENSO and ice core isotopes in the northwestern TP； all pointing to possible teleconnections between TP climates and sea surface temperature. In future studies， the Earth system models will be relied upon to help reveal physical mechanisms behind complex water stable isotope variations， and comprehend unique isotope variation patterns under extreme climates. Based on modern precipitation δ variation features and abrupt changes and triggering mechanisms， variation history of moisture sources is to be reconstructed from paleoproxies. Besides， isotopic parameters including deuterium excesses have high meteorological synoptic capacity， and would be applied to the analysis of changes in sea surface temperature or evaporation， and hence to facilitate the understanding of sea-air interactions， and the interactions of circulation patterns and water cycles on the Tibetan Plateau with global climate changes.