A group of farmers in Henan Province, central China, plant cacti on
their yard walls and land ridges, which have effectively kept their
homesteads safe for the past 60 years, local paper
reported.
The 46 households in Panzhuang, a mountain-enclosed village outside
Zhumadian City, plant cacti almost everywhere as a method to
prevent thievery.
"We all like them; they act as our police officers and security
guards," the villagers explained. According to them, no incidents
involving theft have occurred since 1951, when a local yam dealer
named Xu Dao brought the plant home from the banks of the Yangtze
River. "It was blooming with a yellow flower at that time," locals
recalled.
"Xu told us it was a cactus. He planted one cactus on his wall, and
before long, the wall was filled with them," said 83-year-old Tao
Xinglin. Other locals followed Xu’s example, gradually creating the
cacti outlook of the village today.
The village now also sees large areas of cacti blossoming across
the nearby river banks and hills. Forestry experts in Zhumadian
said Panzhuang holds the record in cactus planting for the area
located between the Yellow River and Yangtze River in China.
Nevertheless, while acknowledging the role of the cacti in guarding
the village houses, experts also noted that six decades of natural
reproduction has resulted in excessive amounts of the species in
the area. Local authorities are currently planning to have
neighboring villages re-plant some of the cacti.