Climate change is leading to significant variations in the intensity and frequency of drought events, and the key ecological processes of terrestrial ecosystems are directly affected by the uncertainty of extreme climate events. In 2009-2010, Southwest China experienced a once-in-a-hundred-year extreme drought, however, the responses of vegetation to this extreme drought event on a long-term time scale is still unclear. Using multi-year normalized difference vegetation index（NDVI）data and meteorological datasets, the duration of legacy effect of 2009-2010 extreme drought in Yunnan Province were studied and the responses of diverse vegetation types on this extreme drought event were analyzed. The results showed that 1）The inhibition of vegetation growth occurred about 1-2 years in Yunnan Province after the extreme drought event, especially in areas where precipitation experienced a severe reduction. 2）The most sensitive area of vegetation response to drought events is around 2000 m above sea level, and the vegetation growth above 4000 m is almost unaffected. 3）Compared with grassland and farmland, the inhibition of forest vegetation is stronger. This research revealed the negative impacts of extreme drought on the growth of vegetation in Yunnan Province and provided a theoretical basis for coping with extreme drought and restoring vegetation effectively in the future.