A high-resolution 3-D crustal and upper-mantle shear-wave velocity model of Northeast China is established by joint inversion of receiver functions and Rayleigh wave group velocities. The teleseismic data for obtaining receiver functions are collected from 107 CEA permanent sites and 118 NECESSArray portable stations. Rayleigh wave dispersion measurements are extracted from an independent tomographic study. Our model exhibits unprecedented detail in S-velocity structure. Particularly, we discover a low S-velocity belt at 7.5-12.5 km depth covering entire Northeast China (except the Songliao basin), which is attributed to a combination of anomalous temperature, partial melts and fluid-filled faults related to Cenozoic volcanism. Localized crustal fast S-velocity anomaly under the Songliao basin is imaged and interpreted as late-Mesozoic mafic intrusions. In the upper mantle, our model confirms the presence of low velocity zones below the Changbai mountains and Lesser Xing’an mountain range, which agree with models invoking sub-lithospheric mantle upwellings. We observe a positive S-velocity anomaly at 50-90 km depth under the Songliao basin, which may represent a depleted and more refractory lithosphere inducing the absence of Cenozoic volcanism. Additionally, the average lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary depth increases from 50-70 km under the Changbai mountains to 100 km below the Songliao basin, and exceeds 125 km beneath the Greater Xing’an mountain range in the west. Furthermore, compared with other Precambrian lithospheres, Northeast China likely has a rather warm crust (~480-970 °C) and a slightly warm uppermost mantle (~1200 °C), probably associated with active volcanism. The Songliao basin possesses a moderately warm uppermost mantle (~1080 °C).