The history of water-rock interaction studies is briefly reviewed and presented in this paper. Although studies on basic geology and mineral resources have accomplished great achievements, environmental issues become increasingly important for water-rock interaction studies. Due to continuous applications of new theories and technologies in physics, chemistry and biology, water-rock interaction studies are facing new opportunities and challenges, which mainly include biogeochemical studies of aquifer systems, coupling of microscale mechanisms of water-rock interaction with macroscale geochemical processes, and fractionation of isotopes as well as their applications in water-rock interactions.