Abstract: The mechanical properties of shallow loess are mainly affected by seasonal rainfall and drought climate, which shows that the loess has large subsidence and collapse after it meets water. The study on mechanical properties of shallow loess can provide some references for preventing and controlling geological hazards in loess area. In this paper, shallow loess in a certain area of Lanzhou is selected for direct shear test in laboratory, direct shear test under dry-wet cycling, unconfined compressive strength test and permeability test. The results show that at the same shear rate, the water content increases, the cohesion decreases and the internal friction angle changes little; at the same water content, the shear rate increases, the cohesion increases and the internal friction angle changes little. The cohesion of remolded loess decreases with the increase of wet and dry cycles, and the internal friction angle does not change much. The unconfined compressive strength of loess decreases with the increase of water content and the number of dry-wet cycles, and after more than four dry-wet cycles, the compressive strength of loess tends to be stable. The permeability coefficient of remolded loess increases with the number of dry-wet cycles and decreases with the increase of dry density.