The Taijiang National Park has been operating tour vans since 2020. The interesting half-day tours along the Mangrove Line and the Black-Faced Spoonbill Line are very popular among tourists. From December 2022, when the Anshun Salt Story House opens, the park will launch a salt fields tour to take tourists on a journey through the golden age of Taiwan’s salt industry.
Hop on the tour van to visit the famous Anping Tree House, which once served as the warehouse of the British Tait & Co. Merchant House. During the Japanese occupation (1895-1945), it was expanded and renamed as the Great Nippon Salt Enterprise. The adjacent former Tait & Co. dormitory later served as the residence of Zhu Jiuying, both director of the Salt Affairs Administration of the Ministry of Finance and general manager of the R.O.C. Salt Factory. So, where has all the salt gone?
To find out, take another van to cross the Sicao Bridge where the Taiwan Strait is on the left and the Yanshui River Basin on the right was part of the ocean a century ago when ships could dock at Wutiao Port in Zhongxi District. After arriving at the Anshun Salt Fields, walk past Jiejing Pond, Wapan Salt Fields, and the Salt Workers’ Dormitory as you head all the way to the Salt Shipping Wharf from where you can see the former Fort Zeelandia (now Anping Old Fort) on the opposite bank of the Yanshui River. You may even vaguely discern the Anping Tree House from where you are! This area is indeed steeped in history. So, head onto the Anshun Salt Story House where volunteer tour guides can’t wait to tell you all about it!
Would you like to know more about the highs and lows of the salt industry? Once the Anshun Salt Fields ceased operations, the salt workers who remained and were living nearby maintained the salt drying facilities and maintained salt production. Try lifting the salt rakes and imagine how heavy they are as you rake the salt into piles. After working up a sweat raking salt, doesn’t the salty bean curd taste sweet?
If you like, you could also buy some brine to take home, bring home some coarse salt for baking with salt crusts, fine salt for everyday cooking, or ultrafine salt for haute cuisine. Once you have reached home, you’ll want to share this marvelous salt and the stories of the century-old salt industry with your friends and family.