The 12^th International Conference on Permafrost (ICOP 2022) will be held in Lanzhou, China, from June 20-24, 2022. The conference theme is "Permafrost environments under persistent warming: Challenges for scientific assessment and engineering practice". On behalf of the local organizing committee, I warmly invite you to attend ICOP 2022.

Lanzhou is a beautiful city with a population of more than 3 million. It is in the geographical centre of China and is located on the upper reaches of the Yellow River. It is the permafrost research hub of China.

Lanzhou is the capital city of Gansu Province. Historically, it was a major stop on the ancient "Silk Road" west from Xi'an because of its proximity to the Hexi Corridor. This is where early Chinese civilization began. Agriculture started in the area about 3,000 years ago during the Zhou Dynasty and this was the beginning of the great Yellow River basin civilization. In the Qin Dynasty (221 B.C.-207 B.C.), merchants and traders traveling from Xi'an, then capital of China, made Lanzhou the first stop in their long...