The southwestern coastal region of Taiwan is salt country. From Budai in Chiayi down through Beimen, Jiangjun, and Qigu in Tainan, an incredible expanse of manmade salt evaporation ponds sprawl across a completely flat and almost featureless landscape, much of it reclaimed from the briny lagoons that line the coast. Salt has been produced here for more than three centuries by channeling seawater into artificial enclosures and letting the strong tropical sun do the rest. Taiwan’s accession to the WTO in 2002 doomed the industry and all remaining salterns (or salt fields, if you like) were decommissioned that same year. This led to the abandonment of the unique Qīngkūnshēn Fan-Shaped Saltern (青鯤鯓扇形鹽田), now a surreal reminder of the history of salt production in southern Taiwan.
Salt production in Taiwan spanned three centuries and only ended after accession to the WTO in the early 2000s. The remains of this industry can be found along several stretches of the southwest coast of the main island, particularly in Qigu, Budai, Qieding, and Yong’an. In this collection I will be documenting the physical remains of this industry and discussing a history of salt production that stretches back millennia, from ancient China to the salt monopoly instituted by Imperial Japan and continued by the Kuomintang into the late 20th century.