As night falls and the mountains grow silent, Tudjiang Pana, a snowcat operator at a ski resort in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region begin his work, driving through the freezing darkness to groom the trails to perfection, to ensure pristine conditions for skiers the next morning.
The Hemu Jikepulin International Ski Resort in Xinjiang's Altay Prefecture where Tudjiang works has grown into one of Asia's largest ski destinations. The resort thrives on its excellent snow quality, heavy snowfall, and exceptionally long ski season. During the 2024-2025 season, daily visitor numbers reached record highs, with crowds filling the slopes each day.
"Driving a snowcat takes real skill. At minus 35 to 40 degrees, the snow becomes very hard, and the corduroy patterns don't come out well. You have to press it once or twice more to get it right, and only then will the surface look good. When the slopes are well prepared, guests are happy, and they will have a good time here," he said in a documentary produced by China Global Television Network (CGTN).
For four years, Tudjiang has carved dawn from silence. To him, grooming is an act of quiet faith: steady, precise, laying the groundwork for morning's first footprints.
With such dedication, Jikepulin continues to showcase China's growing passion for winter sports.
Titled "Xinjiang Dawn to Dusk", the CGTN documentary series uses the ancient "shichen" timekeeping system to frame stories across the 12 period of one day.
In ancient China, a day was divided into 12 periods or 12 "shichen", each lasting two hours by today's clock.
Tudjiang Pana's story is included in an episode titled "Yinshi: Moonlit grooves on snow canvas". The ancients knew Yinshi as the hinge between shadow and dawn.
Xinjiang snowcat operator grooms resort trails to welcome skiers
