Global climate change mainly characterized by global warming had changed and been changing the structure and function of terrestrial ecosystem. The relationships between current vegetations and environments are formed through hundreds of thousands of years′ evolution, thus changes in plant phenology may influence these subtle relationships. In this study, the short-term responses of leaf phenology, freezing damage of Abies faxoniana to simulated global warming were investigated using the open-top chamber (OTC) and transposing of surface soil with vegetation (TSSV) methods. The results were shown as follows: In Muyangchang, mean air temperature in the OTC raised by 2.2 ℃ at 1.0 m above the ground in the OTC during the growing season. Moreover, mean air temperature was 2.5 ℃ lower in timberline ecotone (3200 m) than versus in Muyangchang (2600 m). A. faxoniana seedlings in warming treatments showed earlier bud break, later bud dormancy and longer growing season. Unfortunately, severe freezing damage in current buds was detected in warming treatments. The results obtained in this study indicate that frost damage probably poses strong impact on the alpine species under future warming conditions.