  In this contribution, our knowledge of the initial conditions under which
massive star formation takes place is reviewed. Massive stars are born in
massive clumps of giant molecular clouds (GMCs), hence first the properties of
GMCs are summarized. As a potentially early stage of molecular clouds, infrared
dark clouds have been discovered a decade ago as dark patches in mid-infrared
(MIR) images of the Galactic plane and many studies of the physical conditions
within them have been conducted recently. Without the guidance of MIR
absorption, large scale, unbiased cold dust surveys can be used as well to
identify massive cold clumps. In the absence of indicators of ongoing massive
star formation, like compact HII regions and bright IR sources, these clumps
are the most promising objects for the study of the initial conditions of
massive star formation. Current observational approaches to find IR quiet
clumps and their physical and chemical properties are summarized.
