Abstract: Objective To analyze the clinicopathological characteristics of young gastric cancer patients in Hehuang Valley. Methods We retrospectively analyzed the clinicopathological characteristics of 580 young gastric cancer patients hospitalized in The Affiliated Hospital of Qinghai University and People's Hospital of Qinghai Province from February 2003 to February 2013. All cases were divided into present 5 years group and past 5 years group in chronological order, meanwhile, 588 young gastric cancer patients(GY group) and 1799 elderly gastric cancer patients(GE group) were set as the control group. Results There was significant difference in the location of primary cancer in young gastric cancer patients between present 5 years group and past 5 years group(χ²=25.083, P=0.000). Moreover, between GY and GE groups, there were statistical differences in the constituent ratio of differentiated types(χ²=274.473, P=0.000), the constituent ratio of squamous/ adenosquamous carcinoma and signet-ring cell carcinoma(χ²=57.642, P=0.000), HER2 detection(χ²=104.446, P=0.000), Borrmann classification of advanced GC(χ²=174.065, P=0.000), Hp infection(χ²=224.847，P=0.000), and Lauren classification(χ²=683.671, P=0.000); while there was no statistical difference in the types of early gastric cancer(χ²=3.099, P=0.541). Conclusion The distal stomach(L) is the predilection site of gastric cancer in young patients in Hehuang Valley, while the proximal stomach(U) is the predilection site in male young gastric cancer patients. HER 2 positive rate and Hp infection rate in young gastric cancer patients are higher than those in elderly ones. Poor-differentiated and moderate/poor-differentiated gastric cancers are the main types in young patients; furthermore, Lauren classification is diffuse-type dominated.