Xi. A Life of Supporting Agriculture

When he was a teenager, Xi supported agriculture and had a strong interest in wild animals, especially birds. According to his own memory, a letter to the national youth published by ornithologist Zheng in China Youth Daily 1979 aroused his keen interest in birds and prompted him to enter the world of wildlife photography and protection.

During the period of 1983, Xi participated in the bird investigation team of Yunnan University and participated in the filming of the documentary "Bird Paradise". This is his first exposure to wildlife photography. During his work in the photography team, Xi Zhinong witnessed the serious influence of traditional wildlife photography on bird life, and was deeply dissatisfied with the photography methods such as tying birds and scaring birds, which drove him to have a strong interest in wildlife photography and thus gave birth to him.

During the period from 1984 to 1986, Xi, as a student supporting agriculture, used his vacation to go back to his hometown Weishan several times to study bird migration. Under his impetus, China National Bird Animal Center established a bird zoo site in Weishan, Yunnan Province, and it is still the only bird zoo site promoted by non-governmental people in China.

During this period, in addition to promoting the work of ornithology, Xi also wrote some phenomena observed in his investigation and published them through various channels, which promoted local legislation in Yunnan to prohibit local residents from killing migratory birds.