Xi Zhinong (奚志农)

Xi Zhinong is a wildlife photographer and founder of Wild China Film, an organization devoted to promoting conservation through photo and film documentation of China’s wildlife and natural environment.

Xi Zhinong’s past projects include the 1992 “Golden Monkey Research Project” at Baima Snow Mountain in Yunnan, which received funding from the World Wide Fund for Nature, followed by the 1995 Yunnan golden monkey work “Mother and Child” which appeared in Newsweek, Time Magazine, BBC Wildlife and National Geographic. In 2002, Xi Zhinong produced the documentary “The Mysterious Golden Monkey”, a project 10-years in the making. The film was awarded the “Green Oscar” at the Nature Screen Film Festival in the U.K., making it the first Chinese wildlife documentary to win an international award. The success of the film was an important driver in the establishment of China’s first private nature center, Cangshan Nature Center, which opened in 2009.