Academia Sinica arranged an historic conference, including a field excursion, on the Qinghai‐Xizang (Tibet) plateau. It took place May 25th through June 14, 1980. Some 80 scientists from 18 foreign countries, representing such diverse fields as anthropology, biology, geography, geology, geophysics, high‐altitude physiology, and meteorology, were invited to participate in this multidisciplinary international meeting—the first of its kind in the People's Republic of China. They exchanged information and opinions with some 240 Chinese scientists. Although the conference covered a wide range of topics, there was a strong predominance of solid earth sciences (nearly 70% of the papers presented), which is the emphasis of this report.