To mark International Day for Biological Diversity on May 22, Pingshan Library will invite renowned wildlife photographer Xi Zhinong for a live-streaming talk titled “The Beauty of Diversity in China” from 8 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. tomorrow, which can be watched on the library’s account “坪山图书馆” on the Bilibili app.

As one of China’s pioneering wildlife photographers, Xi has been photographing and filming China’s wildlife for over 30 years. He has been honored with numerous international competition awards, raising public awareness of wildlife and environmental issues in China. In 2001, he became the first Chinese to receive the Gerald Durrell Award for Endangered Species, and he was also named Wildlife Photographer of the Year — a global competition held by the Natural History Museum in Britain.

In 1993, Xi was a photographer for the publicity department of the Yunnan Forestry Bureau and was assigned to record wildlife for government documentaries. He captured the first photographs ever taken of the snub-nosed monkeys in Yunnan, which brought the snub-nosed monkeys into public view and later a protected species along with pandas.

During his career Xi has not only photographed endangered species and threatened habitats, but also documented wide-scale poaching of animals, spreading the word about environmental and species protection. He has also inspired a new generation of wildlife photographers and videographers.

In an earlier interview, he said that sometimes he had to lie on snow-covered ground and held the same position for four to five hours to wait for a perfect shot. “The waiting is just the standard process of being a photographer. But there’s a hope in the waiting.”

His latest mission is to save the extremely rare green peacocks, which are native to China and are an endangered species.