Page 5 - YunnanTourismCultureTimes (115)

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VISION | 视觉

Uncovering the “Goldmine” in rock crevices

石缝里的“聚宝盆”

By Xinhua Net □ 新华网

Under the scorching sun, in the Zhuang- At first, villagers simply harvested and
zitian Community of Wenshan City, Yunnan sold fresh cactus fruits and pads. Before long,
Province, hundreds of hectares of cacti tena- they expanded their vision: partnering with out-
ciously emerge from narrow rock crevices, side enterprises, they established local process-
spreading into vast stretches of vibrant green. ing workshops to produce higher-value goods—
This region was once devastated by severe freeze-dried fruit, enzymes, and even cactus
rocky desertification. Barren land, stripped of beer. Beyond processing, they also tapped into
vegetation, accounted for 80% of the terrain, the potential of the landscape itself, building an
leaving a stark and startling landscape of integrated agro-tourism model. This included
exposed stone. With fragile local industries specialty “Cactus Banquets” and hands-on ac-
and precarious livelihoods, nearly 70% of tivities like fruit-picking and educational tours.
working-age villagers were compelled to An annual “Cactus Festival” now draws visitors
leave their homes in search of employment to celebrate the harvest… Today, the same rocky
elsewhere, gradually draining Zhuangzitian of crevices that once symbolized barrenness are
its youth and vitality. bursting with green economic vitality.
In 2019, confronted with limited land The remarkable transformation of their
resources, the newly appointed Party branch hometown has drawn more and more mi-
secretary Lu Chunhong and the local villag- grants back. In just a few years, what began
ers turned to a resilient solution: drought- and as scattered cactus plantings in rocky crevices
sun-loving cacti, plants that demand almost no has grown into a vast, contiguous 330-hectare
watering and can take root even in rocky crevic- plantation—now the largest of its kind in China.
es. And so, seedlings of hope were gently tucked Today, the cacti cultivated here reach markets as
into the cracks of the barren hillside. far away as South Korea and Southeast Asia.

烈日下的云南省文山市庄子田居民小 最初，村民们只是采摘仙人掌的鲜果
组，数千亩仙人掌从石缝中倔强钻出，连 和叶片售卖。很快，路子越走越宽：与企
缀成片，绿意盎然。 业合作，在村内办厂，深加工出冻果干、
这里曾是石漠化的重灾区，高达 80% 酵素、仙人掌啤酒等高附加值产品；依托
的土地寸草难生，裸露的岩石触目惊心。 成片的“绿山”，发展农旅融合产业，推
产业贫弱，生计无着，村里 70% 的青壮 出“仙人掌宴”特色餐饮，开发鲜果采摘、
年背井离乡，外出谋生，庄子田居民小组 科普教育等体验项目，每年举办“仙人掌
一度成了“空心村”。 节”……产业的生机在石缝间不断迸发。
2019 年，面对稀缺的土地，新上任 家乡的巨变吸引着越来越多离乡的村
的支部书记鲁春红和村民锁定了耐旱喜阳 民选择返乡。短短几年间，石缝中零星种
的仙人掌——它几乎无需浇水，在石缝中 值的仙人掌扩展为 5000 亩连片种植的基
也能生长。于是，一株株象征着希望的仙 地，一跃成为中国最大的仙人掌种植区，
人掌苗被小心翼翼地栽进了荒山的石缝里。 所产的仙人掌远销韩国、东南亚等地。