The 12th 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 journey to Central Asia and onwards to the Roman Empire. In order to protect this crucial corridor, the Great Wall was extended as far as the extreme northwest of present-day Gansu Province during the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-220 A.D.).

Lanzhou became the capital of successive tribal states during the turbulent times that followed the decline of the Han Dynasty. During this time Taoism developed into a religion, and Buddhism became the official religion in some northern states.

Buddhist art flourished, and shrines were built in temples, caves, and on cliffs. Between the 5th and 11th centuries, Dunhuang, a site beyond the Yumen Pass of the Great Wall, became a centre for Buddhist study, drawing scholars and pilgrims from near and far. It was a period when magnificent works of art were created.

Moving to the modern era, China successfully hosted the 6th International Conference on Permafrost in Beijing in 1993. In the quarter-century since then, a number of major projects have been accomplished in the permafrost regions of China. These include the Qinghai-Tibet Railway (QTR), the Qinghai-Kang Expressway, the Qinghai-Tibet Power Transmission Line, the Chaidar-Muli Rail Link, and the Russia-China Crude Oil Pipeline. We are eager to show some of these permafrost engineering successes and the background scientific research that was needed to construct them to participants on the longer field trips associated with the conference.

China is heavily involved in all aspects of the cryospheric sciences, including geocryology and cold regions engineering. Over the next 5 years, China, Russia and several other bordering countries will be working together to build new infrastructure in the permafrost regions along the ‘Silk Road Economic Zones’ of Central and Middle Asia, increasing opportunities for international cooperation.

We know that ICOP 2022 will be a great venue to promote international research and collaboration in permafrost science and cold regions engineering practice.

We look forward to welcoming you to Lanzhou and to ICOP 2022!