This article endeavours to reiterate the advances in six vital aspects of burn injury, i.e. shock/ischemia-hypoxia, infection/sepsis, inhalation injury, regenerative medicine/tissue engineering and wound repair, hypermetabolism after burn, and integration of early treatment and rehabilitation in the last three decades. They originated from the papers dealing with ten main episodes in the care of burn trauma as a token to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Chinese Journal of Burns, as well as the 30th anniversary of the inauguration of Chinese Burn Association.