Protecting nature through photography

Leopards and peafowl

In January 2016, Xi initiated the Nomad Photographer Development Program after meeting two nomads who captured a snow leopard with a compact camera in the Sanjiangyuan area in Qinghai.

He offered to provide them with better equipment and teach them photography skills. By 2020, the program had trained more than 40 nomads to take photos of wildlife.

Three members of his course became major cameramen for Xi's wildlife documentary film, Snow Leopards and Friends. Released in August 2023, the film, featuring precious footage from Xi and these nomad photographers, sparked widespread attention for the current status of snow leopards and won the Golden Rooster Award for Best Documentary/Science Education Film that year.

To document a snow leopard mother nurturing two cubs within a cave at 5,200 meters above sea level, Xi and his Tibetan cameramen established a camp at 4,700 meters and stayed for 35 days. Every day they would ascend 500 meters to the filming site. For one of his Tibetan photographers, Xi said, the climb took 20 minutes.

"But it took me one hour and 20 minutes to scale the height," he said. "With their sharp eyes and physical endurance, they are true masters of the rugged terrain."

The six-year project not only brought a profound change to the local community's attitude toward wildlife, but improved the living conditions of snow leopards and other species inhabiting the region.

"For local nomads, photography has become a popular way of life," Xi said. "With money earned from selling caterpillar fungus, they now prefer to upgrade their photography equipment instead of buying new motorcycles or cars."

In 2017, he received alarming news that one of the few remaining sanctuaries for the endangered green peafowl — a species under State first-class protection due to its dwindling population of fewer than 500 birds — was imperiled by a hydroelectric dam project. Prompted by this urgent threat, he mobilized a team of colleagues to conduct an on-site investigation.

"In China, the green peafowl is only distributed in Yunnan and it once roamed in forests bordering some great rivers, such as the Jinsha and Lancang (Mekong) rivers," Xi said. "Over the years, they vanished from many of these habitats, now surviving only in some isolated sites along the Honghe River. As a native Yunnan photographer, I felt a sense of neglect in fulfilling my duty."

In response to this crisis, he spearheaded an environmental initiative in collaboration with grassroots conservation organizations to oppose the dam's construction. This collective effort culminated in a civil lawsuit filed against the project developers, resulting in halting of the construction. Thanks to these concerted actions, the habitat of green peafowl was saved from further harm.

"I feel I'm like a messenger or a bridge," Xi said. "Through my works, I want to let more people see the real forest and real nature."