Additionally, Asian population might have higher prevalence of intracranial atherosclerosis than the Caucasian, and intracranial atherosclerosis is the most common cause of ischemic stroke in Asia population. However, there are limited data about the prevalence and progression of intracranial atherosclerosis in Chinese population. More and more studies have shown that presence and progression of atherosclerotic plaque is not only related to the degree of stenosis, but also with plaque characteristics such as rich lipid core, plaque hemorrhage and inflammatory cell infiltration. High-resolution magnetic resonance (HR-MRI) can not only show the degree of arterial stenosis, the size of atherosclerotic plaque, but also can analyze the composition of the plaque to assess the stability of the plaque. HR-MRI techniques enable early detection of atherosclerosis, characterization of the atherosclerotic composition and burden. It is important to estimate the prevalence and progression rate of intracranial atherosclerotic plaque based on HR-MRI and to estimate its traditional and emerging determinants in Chinese population.