The 33^rd International Geographical Congress was held in Beijing on August 21-25, 2016.  After the congress, 11 foreign scientists from the U.S., Australia, Poland, Russia, Italy and Spain participated in the post-congress field trip on karst organized by Institute of Karst Geology of CAGS - The International Research Center on Karst under the Auspices of UNESCO, and the Joint International Research Center on Karst of Yunnan University and Yunnan Provincial Science and Technology Department.

On the morning of 26^th August 2016, Dr. Liu Tongliang, Director of Institute of Karst Geology and the UNESCO International Research Center on Karst, and Dr. Cao Jianhua, Executive Deputy Director of the UNESCO International Research Center on Karst joined in the seminar with scientists who would participate in the field trip afterwards. Director Liu introduced the historical progress, main tasks and major achievements of the Institute.

Besides, the scientists visited the Maocun Field Test Base in Guilin, core area of Karst natural heritage in Lijiang River Basin, and Stone Forest Global Geopark in Kunming as well.

On the afternoon of 30^th August 2016, the five-day long field trip came to a successful close. Owing to exchanges and discussions with international scientists during the field trip, the Center has gained support from international scientists for the Big Science Program and suggestions for further improvement.