--- ---  # Yunnan village makes succulent profit  _Cactus plants are cultivated in Zhuangzitian village of Wenshan, Yunnan province. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY_ By YAN YUJIE and LI YINGQING Zhuangzitian, a village once severely impacted by rocky desertification in Southwest China’s Yunnan province, has reversed a decades-long trend of environmental degradation and economic migration by developing a 15-million-yuan ($2.2 million) cactus cultivation and processing industry. According to local village data, the initiative has successfully restored nearly 200 acres of previously barren land in the Wenshan Zhuang and Miao autonomous prefecture. The ecological shift has increased regional vegetation coverage from 32% to 75% and reduced annual soil erosion by an estimated 13,227 short tons. The environmental rehabilitation has triggered an economic turnaround for the village, which previously saw 70% of its young and middle-aged population leave for urban centers due to a shortage of arable land. By 2025, per capita income in Zhuangzitian reached 32,000 yuan, representing a 2.2-fold increase from 2022 levels and prompting a full return of the village’s migrant workforce. The restructuring program began in 2021 under the direction of Lu Chunhong, a local official, who returned to Zhuangzitian after two decades in the private sector. Lu targeted the region’s native cactus population — a drought-resistant plant that had been grown on a small scale for over 200 years but lacked commercial scale or supply chain integration. Traditionally, a household growing cacti on 1.65 acres could earn up to 15,000 yuan annually from selling fresh fruit. However, by creating a cooperative that processes the fruit into dried products, their annual income could potentially increase more than threefold. To incentivize participation, Lu established an agricultural cooperative and introduced a formalized collective profit-sharing model: 50% of returns are allocated to villagers who pool their land assets, 30% is distributed evenly among all residents, and 20% is directed into public welfare funds. The villagers were soon convinced and eagerly pooled their land into the cooperative, initiating large-scale cactus cultivation. With years of business experience, Lu realized that to propel the cactus industry forward, it was essential to extend the value chain. He spearheaded the development of a comprehensive system that includes seedling cultivation, technical guidance and product procurement. A 43,000-square-foot processing facility was established to seamlessly integrate harvesting, processing and storage, effectively tackling challenges like cactus preservation and initial processing limitations. Lu actively collaborated with institutions like China Agricultural University in Beijing and Southwest Forestry University in Kunming to form a 20-member research and development team, creating over 10 high-value-added products such as cactus beer and enzymes. This shift from selling raw materials to marketing finished products and brands enhanced the value-added potential by more than threefold. To diversify sales channels, Lu partnered with a local agricultural investment company to establish a specialized operations team that covers offline supply, online sales and exports. As a result, the products are now available across several provinces and in neighboring countries. In August 2025, 22 short tons of edible cactus pads were exported to Vietnam, representing China’s first cross-border shipment of these products, according to Kunming Customs. Truong Cong Le Hoang, an executive member of the Vietnam Young Entrepreneurs Association, sampled cactus-based products like cactus beverages, describing their main advantages as having a “health concept” and “cultural appeal.” As the cactus market grows, the village has expanded its cultivation, reaching approximately 823 acres last year, with a total annual output value of 15 million yuan. The village has simultaneously diversified into secondary and tertiary industries, establishing an annual Cactus Cultural Tourism Festival since 2022 to drive agritourism. Local residents have converted the increased foot traffic into direct retail revenue. Zhang Dengyun, a 51-year-old villager, said that during the peak festival period, direct on-site farm sales reached 40,000 yuan in a single day. “This year, we plan to extend the festival from one day to three days,” Lu said. The increased liquidity has altered local farming infrastructure. The Zhang family, whose household income rose from 100,000 yuan in 2022 to over 200,000 yuan in 2025 alongside a 30,000-yuan collective dividend, recently integrated commercial drones into their harvesting operations to bypass difficult mountain terrain. “Previously, it took half an hour to carry a basket of cactus pads from the field to the transport truck by the roadside,” Zhang said. “Now, with the drone, they can move two baskets in just two minutes, greatly enhancing efficiency and reducing physical strain. Nowadays, farming isn’t as tough as it used to be.” Other residents have transitioned into the hospitality sector. Wang Yunxi, a 44-year-old villager, has operated a themed cactus restaurant since December 2021, drawing food enthusiasts from Beijing, Shanghai, the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region and Zhejiang province. “My restaurant is doing great, as many visitors are eager to try our cactus-themed feast. Last year, our revenue surpassed 400,000 yuan,” Wang said. He added that the most popular dish is chicken soup with cactus fruit, and he plans to develop more dishes to cater to the tastes of tourists from different regions. The development of the cactus industry in Zhuangzitian has not only been an advancement in agriculture but has also been a comprehensive development of ecological management, rural vitalization, cultural-tourism integration and cross-border cooperation, according to Hoang from the Vietnamese entrepreneurs association. 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[LEARN MORE](https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/) China Daily - TIME - Partner Content - Yunnan village makes succulent profit ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/branded-content/china-daily/yunnan-village-makes-succulent-profit/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/branded-content/china-daily/yunnan-village-makes-succulent-profit/"},"headline":"Yunnan village makes succulent profit","datePublished":"2026-07-10T06:11:57.201Z","dateModified":"2026-07-10T06:11:46.301Z","description":"Yunnan village makes succulent profit","url":"https://time.com/branded-content/china-daily/yunnan-village-makes-succulent-profit/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/branded-content/china-daily/yunnan-village-makes-succulent-profit/","name":"Yunnan village makes succulent profit"}}]}] ```