The invention relates to diatom sand beads and high-strength, environment-friendly and thermal-insulation mortar containing the same. The diatom sand beads are prepared from second-class and third-class diatomite used as a raw material through four steps including drying, purification, granulation and roasting. The diatom sand beads are light in weight, environment-friendly and high in adsorbability and have the advantages of damp prevention, fire prevention, purification, thermal insulation and the like. The thermal-insulation mortar is prepared from 50%-60% of the diatom sand beads, 10%-20% of diatom powder, 5%-8% of environment-friendly latex powder, 10%-20% of cement, 1% of wood fiber, 2% of cellulose, 0-10% of glass beads and water. The thermal-insulation mortar can replace cement mortar to be directly applied to building wall brick surfaces, when the thermal-insulation mortar is used for an exterior wall, other decoration processes can be performed directly on the thermal-insulation mortar, and when the thermal-insulation mortar is used for an interior wall, the thermal-insulation mortar can well adsorb indoor formaldehyde produced during decoration, is environment-friendly and can purify indoor air; the thermal-insulation mortar has the advantages of being light in weight, low in heat conductivity coefficient, environment-friendly, thermal-insulation, high-temperature-resistant, fireproof, low-temperature-resistant, noise-reducing, damp-proof, mildew-proof, anti-condensation, free of radioactive substances, stable in physical and chemical property and the like.