From May 15 to 19, the 2026 Academic Symposium of the 11th Metamorphic Rock Professional Committee was grandly held in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia. The conference featured five special topics: ① metamorphism and orogenic belt evolution; ② metamorphism and early craton formation; ③ high-pressure–ultrahigh-pressure and high-temperature–ultrahigh-temperature metamorphic processes; ④ metamorphic fluid-melt evolution and elemental geochemical behavior; ⑤ metamorphism-deformation-mineralization. Leaders from the Chinese Society for Mineralogy, Petrology and Geochemistry, Tianjin Center of China Geological Survey, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Geological Survey Institute, and the Metamorphic Rock Professional Committee were invited to deliver speeches. Top experts and scholars, including Academicians Zheng Yongfei, Zhao Guochun, and Chen Yanjing of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, delivered keynote reports.
Conference Poster
From May 16 to 17, Li Zengwei, representative of Zhangshiyan National Geopark Management and Protection Center, attended the conference together with Shi Jian, Director of the Achievement Transformation Center of the Institute of Geographical Sciences, Hebei Academy of Sciences. They held in-depth exchanges with invited expert Academician Zhao Guochun and Researcher Tong Ying from the Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, on the construction of Zhangshiyan National Geopark and the creation of a UNESCO Global Geopark.
Photo of the two representatives attending the academic symposium. Source: Cloud Album of the 2026 Academic Symposium of the 11th Metamorphic Rock Professional Committee
Group photo of Shi Jian from the Institute of Geographical Sciences, Hebei Academy of Sciences (first from right), Researcher Tong Ying from the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences (first from left), Academician Zhao Guochun of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (second from left), and his student (second from right)
During the conference, the two representatives focused on listening to the academic report titled “Genesis of Paleoproterozoic Garnet Granite Gneiss in the Zanhuang Complex, Central North China Craton” delivered by Dr. Wang Jianlong, and exchanged views with the speaker on site.
Dr. Wang Jianlong delivering his report. Source: Cloud Album of the 2026 Academic Symposium of the 11th Metamorphic Rock Professional Committee
Group photo during the field geological investigation
From May 18 to 19, Li Zengwei and Shi Jian jointly participated in the field geological investigation organized by the conference.
This participation was not only a remarkable appearance of Zhangshiyan National Geopark on a national academic platform, but also helped break the stereotype that “geoparks are merely tourism institutions,” establishing a positive image as a research-oriented management organization. At the same time, it also helped members of the Management and Protection Center develop a professional and scientific awareness of conservation, promoting a fundamental transformation in management work from “guarding the mountains” to “understanding and interpreting the mountains.”