Traditional theory of plate tectonics facedpuzzling problems when it was used to interpret the genesis mechanism of the old continent.Frequent intracontinental earthquakes,wide continental orogenic belts,pervasive penetrative deformed structures and huge-scale S-type granitic provinces constitute the principal features of continental geology,and thus the intracontinental or intraplate orogeny has been an important part of modern theory of plate tectonics.This paper briefly reviewed the process of intracontinental orogeny and summarized its foundational features focusing on aspects of definition,geotectonic location,scale,distinct geological signatures,crustal tectonics,magmatism,strain distribution,mountain root,thermal energy and dynamic source.By combining with international results and author’s own works in the past two-decades,several typical intracontinental orogenic belts arebriefly described including the Cenozoic Tianshan,the Neoproterozoic-Early Paleozoic Central Australia,the Early Paleozoic South China,and the Pan-African period Damara ones.From these,a comparison of geological features of the South China Early Paleozoic intracontinental orogen with subduction-collision-type orogenic belts was proposed，and several newchallenges arediscussed.