In January 1980, two Chinese soldiers were standing guard at a remote border crossing in Xinjiang, northwestern China. The temperature was around -58°F, and a powerful snowstorm had left the surrounding area almost completely deserted.
The soldiers, Zhang and Wang, were experienced enough to handle difficult conditions. But nothing had prepared them for what they were about to experience.
It started with laughter.
Someone was laughing in the distance, even though nobody else appeared to be outside. At first, the soldiers thought one of them was playing a joke. But the laughter continued, growing louder and coming from somewhere beyond the road.
What happened next would become one of the strangest stories associated with the remote mountains of China.
The two soldiers disappeared. Their commander later found blood, weapons and discarded uniforms in the snow, but no sign of the men. And when another soldier investigated a nearby village, he reportedly discovered something even more disturbing.
The events eventually became known as the White-Haired Wind.
The Freezing Border Crossing in Xinjiang
Two soldiers facing an extreme winter
On an early morning in January 1980, Zhang and his fellow soldier Wang were assigned to guard an isolated international border crossing in Xinjiang.
The location was far from populated areas. The crossing consisted of large arches built over a road, surrounded by snowy mountains and open land. A small guard shack nearby served as the command post.
Their commander, Chen, was inside the building with several other soldiers.
Conditions outside were extremely dangerous. Temperatures had reportedly dropped to around -58°F, and the area had been declared an emergency zone. Exposure to the cold could cause hypothermia within minutes.
Normally, vehicles and people passed through the border crossing regularly. But the severe weather had stopped almost all movement.
Zhang and Wang were the only two soldiers assigned to stand outside.
They wore protective winter clothing, but the freezing wind still made their shift difficult. To pass the time, the two friends joked with each other and tried to stay warm.
However, as the hours passed, their conversation stopped. Snow continued falling, and visibility became increasingly poor.
Then Zhang heard something unusual.
Strange Laughter Came From the Snow
Zhang heard someone laughing
Zhang was standing on one side of the road, while Wang was only a few feet away.
Suddenly, Zhang heard laughter coming from Wang’s direction.
He turned to look at his friend. Wang was facing forward and did not appear to be laughing.
At first, Zhang assumed he had heard something from far away.
But a few moments later, the laughter returned.
This time it was louder.
Zhang looked directly at Wang and asked what he was laughing about. Wang denied making any noise. He seemed just as confused as Zhang.
Then they heard it again.
The laughter was now clearly coming from somewhere behind Wang, out in the snowy landscape.
Both soldiers began looking around. There was nobody on the road, and the surrounding fields appeared empty. The only other people nearby were inside the command post.
They checked the guard shack, but its lights were on and someone appeared to be moving inside.
So who was laughing?
The commander heard it too
The soldiers continued hearing the strange laughter from a distance.
They eventually decided to investigate.
They knew leaving their assigned positions was against military rules. Their commander, Chen, was known as a strict man. If he discovered them away from their posts, they could face serious punishment.
But their curiosity got the better of them.
Zhang and Wang left the road and began walking into the snowy field, following the sound.
They had barely gone any distance when someone called out behind them.
They turned around and saw Commander Chen standing at their original positions.
He immediately demanded to know why they had abandoned their posts.
Zhang quickly explained that they had heard someone laughing and wanted to check whether there was a possible threat near the border.
Chen then gave them an unexpected answer.
He told them that he had also heard the laughter. In fact, he had come outside because he thought the two soldiers were making the noise.
Now all three men were confused.
Nobody knew where the laughter was coming from.
Chen eventually ordered the soldiers to return to their positions and finish their shift. He told them to forget about the noise because it was probably nothing.
The two men obeyed.
But the strange sounds were not over.
The Blizzard and the Disappearance of Zhang and Wang
A sudden whiteout storm
Shortly after the conversation with Chen, the weather changed dramatically.
The already severe snowstorm became a complete whiteout. Snow and wind surrounded the border crossing, making it almost impossible to see anything.
Zhang could barely see a foot in front of him. He could no longer see Wang or the command post.
He decided not to move because he feared getting lost in the storm.
Then he heard something.
It was no longer laughter.
This time, it was screaming.
The screams sounded as if they were coming from the direction where Wang had been standing.
Zhang immediately became worried about his friend. He wondered whether Wang had fallen or suffered an injury during the storm.
He began trying to find his way toward him.
Meanwhile, Commander Chen was watching the conditions from inside the guard shack.
Although he had just ordered the two soldiers to remain at their posts, he knew how dangerous the weather had become. He also understood that exposure could quickly lead to hypothermia.
He decided to go outside and check on his men.
Chen found blood and abandoned military equipment
Chen struggled through the blizzard until he reached the large border arch.
He held onto it to keep himself from being blown away and shouted for his soldiers.
The wind made it difficult to hear anything.
After some time, the worst of the whiteout conditions began to ease. Visibility improved enough for Chen to move around the arch and inspect the area.
But Zhang and Wang were nowhere to be seen.
At first, Chen thought they might have become lost in the storm.
Then he noticed something on the ground.
It was blood.
There was a considerable amount of it in the snow. Some of the blood appeared to have been covered by fresh snowfall.
Chen began searching the surrounding area. As he moved through the snow, he discovered more disturbing evidence.
Military equipment was scattered across the ground.
There were weapons, uniforms and personal belongings that had belonged to Zhang and Wang.
It appeared that both soldiers had been stripped of their clothing and equipment.
But neither man was there.
There was no explanation for the blood, the abandoned belongings or the disappearance of the two soldiers.
Chen was overwhelmed by what he had found. His legs became weak, his vision blurred, and he collapsed in the snow.
He lost consciousness.
Commander Chen Woke Up in a Hospital
A soldier named Lee saved his life
When Chen opened his eyes again, he was in a hospital bed.
A military police officer was standing nearby. The officer explained that Chen had been found unconscious in the snow and was suffering from hypothermia.
According to the officer, another soldier had discovered him and brought him to safety.
The soldier’s name was Lee.
Without Lee’s intervention, Chen might not have survived the freezing conditions.
But Chen was not thinking about his own condition. He immediately wanted to know what had happened to Zhang and Wang.
The officer gave him an answer that made little sense.
He said both soldiers were fine. They had supposedly left the military voluntarily.
Chen could not believe what he was hearing.
He explained that he had found their blood and military equipment scattered across the snow. The two men had disappeared, and he had no idea what had happened to them.
But the officer repeated the same explanation.
Zhang and Wang were fine. They had chosen to leave the military.
Then he walked away without answering any more questions.
Nobody would explain what happened
Chen received medical treatment and was eventually discharged.
He had suffered from hypothermia but apparently had no lasting injuries.
He returned to the same remote border post where the incident had happened.
His first priority was to investigate the area where Zhang and Wang had disappeared.
But everything had changed.
The blood was gone. Their weapons, uniforms and other equipment had disappeared. New soldiers were now stationed at the border crossing.
Chen questioned the guards and other personnel.
He wanted to know whether anyone had heard about the two missing soldiers.
Everyone gave him the same response.
Zhang and Wang had left the military voluntarily. Nothing had happened to them.
The answers made Chen question his own memory.
He had passed out from hypothermia. Perhaps he had imagined some of the things he remembered seeing.
But he could not forget the blood or the equipment scattered across the snow.
And he still had no idea where the two soldiers were.
Lee Knew More Than He Was Saying
Chen questioned the soldier who rescued him
A few days later, Lee returned to the command post.
Chen was grateful that Lee had saved his life. But he also wanted to know what Lee had seen when he found him unconscious.
He called Lee into another room and questioned him privately.
Chen explained that Lee must have noticed the blood and abandoned military equipment near the border crossing.
At first, Lee appeared different from the other soldiers Chen had questioned.
His eyes widened. He looked around nervously, apparently checking whether anyone else was listening.
For a moment, Chen thought Lee was finally going to tell him the truth.
But Lee gave him the same answer.
He said Zhang and Wang had left the military voluntarily and were fine.
Then he quickly left the room.
Chen was now convinced that something was being hidden from him.
Senior military officers ordered Lee to remain silent
Lee eventually revealed why he had refused to speak.
After rescuing Chen and taking him to the hospital, Lee had reportedly been approached by senior military officials.
They told him that he must not discuss what he had seen at the border crossing.
The exact threats were never made clear in the account, but they were apparently serious enough to frighten him into silence.
Lee had seen the blood and the soldiers’ abandoned equipment. He knew that something terrible had happened.
He also understood that the authorities were trying to prevent people from discussing it.
The situation troubled him.
He felt guilty about lying to Chen, especially because he could see how deeply the disappearance had affected his commander.
But Lee was afraid of the consequences of revealing what he knew.
And then, in February 1980, something happened that made the mystery even more disturbing.
Lee Discovered a Deserted Village
Soldiers were sent to collect supplies
More than a month had passed since Zhang and Wang disappeared.
Winter conditions in the region remained severe. Snowstorms continued, and the roads leading to the remote border post had become covered in snow.
Vehicles could no longer reach the outpost easily.
This created another problem.
The soldiers were running low on food and other supplies. Their remaining stock was not enough to support them indefinitely.
The commander decided to send Lee and several other soldiers to a nearby village.
Their assignment was simple: travel several miles across the snowy landscape, purchase supplies and carry everything back to the outpost.
They prepared their snowshoes and started walking.
For Lee, however, the journey was not just about collecting supplies.
He had been thinking constantly about Zhang and Wang. He also feared that whatever had attacked the two soldiers might still be somewhere in the surrounding mountains.
This was the first time he had ventured away from the outpost since the disappearance.
He was genuinely frightened.
Strange wailing sounds came from the mountains
The soldiers walked across the open snowfields.
For several miles, nothing unusual happened. They continued toward the village, surrounded by snow-covered land and distant mountains.
Then they heard something.
It was a strange wailing sound coming from somewhere near the foot of the mountains.
Lee later described it as similar to the cries of animals being slaughtered on a farm.
The sounds seemed to come one after another, as if different animals were screaming.
Lee tried to convince himself that the villagers were simply butchering livestock.
But then another sound began.
Laughter.
It was coming from somewhere in the distance, echoing around the mountains.
At the same time, the weather began getting worse.
The soldiers became increasingly uncomfortable. Lee was especially frightened because the sounds reminded him of the unexplained laughter he had heard before the disappearance of Zhang and Wang.
They decided to hurry toward the village.
They wanted to reach shelter before the storm became too severe.
The village appeared completely empty
When the soldiers finally reached the outskirts of the village, they expected to find people going about their daily activities.
It was a reasonably populated settlement with shops along its main street.
But something was wrong.
There was nobody outside.
Even though it was the middle of the day, the streets were completely deserted. The soldiers could not see shopkeepers, residents or anyone moving around inside the buildings.
They continued walking through the main street, looking from one side to the other.
There was no sign of normal human activity.
And the laughter was still there.
It seemed to be coming from different directions, echoing across the village and the surrounding mountains.
Then the soldiers noticed something unusual about the snow.
It was covering the buildings and storefronts in strange, thin strands.
The snow looked almost like strings or spider webs stretched across everything.
As they moved deeper into the village, these web-like formations appeared thicker.
The scene looked unnatural.
Lee became distracted by the strange snow formations. He was so focused on examining them that he was barely paying attention to the road ahead.
Then one of the soldiers suddenly stopped.
He looked straight ahead and began screaming.
Lee turned to see what had frightened him.
What he saw was horrifying.
The Bloodbath in the Center of the Village
Blood covered the snow
The center of the village looked like the scene of a massacre.
There was blood everywhere.
Large patches of red blood covered the white snow. It appeared that people or animals had been severely injured or killed there.
But there were no human bodies.
Instead, the soldiers found scattered clothing and the remains of animals.
Among the most disturbing discoveries were cow skeletons.
They appeared to have been stripped of their meat. Some fresh meat was still hanging from the bones.
These did not look like old animal remains that had been lying outside for years.
The scene suggested that something terrible had happened recently.
The soldiers could see blood, clothing and animal skeletons, but they could not find any residents.
It appeared that the village had been emptied of its entire population.
The soldiers fled back to the outpost
Lee and the other soldiers were terrified.
They had travelled to the village expecting to buy food and supplies. Instead, they had discovered what looked like the remains of a terrible attack.
The strange laughter, the empty streets and the web-like snow formations made the situation even more frightening.
They decided not to investigate any further.
The soldiers turned around and rushed back through the snowstorm toward their command post.
When they arrived, they immediately reported what they had witnessed.
They explained that the village was deserted and that the center of the settlement was covered in blood, clothing and animal remains.
The authorities responded quickly.
Senior military personnel arrived at the outpost, and Lee and the other soldiers were reportedly ordered to remain silent.
Once again, nobody was supposed to talk about what had happened.
This time, the incident involved an entire village rather than two missing soldiers.
The White-Haired Wind Became a National Mystery
Stories spread among soldiers and civilians
For some time, Lee and the other soldiers reportedly kept quiet about what they had witnessed.
But eventually, the story began spreading.
Details of the missing soldiers, the strange laughter and the deserted village circulated through military ranks. The accounts eventually reached civilians in China.
People began referring to the mysterious events as the White-Haired Wind.
The name became associated with whatever was believed to be responsible for the disappearances.
Different explanations began to emerge.
Some people believed a strange creature lived in the surrounding mountains. Others suggested that the soldiers and villagers had experienced hallucinations caused by extreme weather and exposure to the cold.
There were also theories about what might have happened to the missing people.
But none of these explanations could account for every detail in the story.
What happened to the missing villagers?
The most disturbing part of the mystery was the number of people who reportedly disappeared.
Zhang and Wang were never accounted for in the story.
The villagers were also missing. The account suggests that potentially hundreds of people vanished from the settlement.
The authorities reportedly maintained that the incidents were nothing more than unusual weather conditions.
The explanation given for Zhang and Wang remained unchanged: they had voluntarily left the military.
But Lee’s account suggested something very different.
He had seen the blood and abandoned equipment at the border crossing. Later, he had witnessed the disturbing scene in the village.
He believed that both incidents were connected.
Despite the growing number of rumours, nobody could explain what had happened to the missing soldiers or the villagers.
What Was the White-Haired Wind?
The White-Haired Wind remains an unexplained mystery within this account.
Its reported events involve several disturbing elements:
- Unexplained laughter: Soldiers heard laughter in an otherwise deserted area during an extreme snowstorm.
- Missing soldiers: Zhang and Wang disappeared, leaving blood, weapons and uniforms behind.
- A military cover-up: Soldiers were reportedly instructed not to discuss what they had witnessed.
- A deserted village: Lee and his companions allegedly discovered a settlement with no residents.
- Strange snow formations: Snow appeared in thin, web-like strands across buildings and storefronts.
- Animal remains: The soldiers reportedly found blood-covered snow and partially stripped animal skeletons.
Some explanations focus on extreme weather, while others suggest an unknown creature or another unexplained phenomenon.
However, the available account does not establish what caused the disappearances or whether the two incidents were connected.
It also does not provide independently verifiable evidence identifying the missing soldiers, the village or the military investigation.
Conclusion: The Mystery of the White-Haired Wind
The story of the White-Haired Wind begins with two soldiers standing guard in one of the coldest and most isolated places imaginable.
A strange sound draws their attention. A sudden blizzard follows. And when the weather clears, both men have disappeared.
Their commander finds blood and abandoned military equipment, only to be told later that the soldiers left the military voluntarily.
Then Lee, the soldier who saved the commander’s life, reportedly discovers an entire village that appears to have suffered a similar fate.
The authorities demand silence, and the mystery continues to spread.
Was the White-Haired Wind simply an extreme weather phenomenon? Was there something living in the mountains? Or were the disappearances part of something that the authorities did not want anyone to investigate?
The account offers no clear answer.
And perhaps that is what makes the White-Haired Wind such a disturbing story. Even after the strange events were reportedly discussed among soldiers and civilians, the fate of the missing people remained unknown.