During the past four decades, progress in geocryology in China has gone fro
m zero to an advanced stage. Currently, the interactions between the cryosp
here and climate are of great concern. Studies on the water resources of co
ld regions, and cold regions engineering under a warming climate, are criti
cally important to sustainable development of China's regional economy and
its ecosystems. Copyright (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.