Four terraces in the GongheGuide section the Yellow River were measured, and 20 sand samples from four terraces were tested by ESR dating method. The result show that the terraces T3~T9 formed at 0. 134Ma B. P. ,0. 176Ma B. P. , 0. 228. 1Ma B. P. , 0. 41Ma B. P. , 0. 82Ma B. P. ,0. 93Ma B. P. and 1. 32 Ma B. P. ，whereas terraces T11 ~T20 formed at 1. 71Ma B. P. , 1. 75Ma B. P. ,1. 88Ma B. P. ,1. 94Ma B. P. , 2. 01Ma B. P. , 2. 12Ma B. P. , 2. 23Ma B. P. , 2. 31Ma B. P. , 2. 36Ma B. P. and 2. 47 Ma B. P. . Combined with the tugofwar at all levels and the incision rate of terraces in the GongheGuide section, the uplift process of the northeastern Tibetan Plateau since the Quaternary was analyzed. This study suggests that the northeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau uplifted 647m to current altitude in a periodic uplift pattern since 2. 47 Ma, with an average uplift rate of 0. 26 mm/a. Among them, the uplift rate was 0. 51 mm/a from 2. 47 1. 71 Ma, 0. 09 mm/a 1. 71 0. 41 Ma, and 0. 35 mm/a from 0. 41 Ma to present day. It can be concluded that the Qilian Mountains in the northeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau had a low elevation (less than 2000 m) before the midMiocene, and uplift rapidly more than 2,000 meters since the middle and late Miocene.