Beimen Town and the Saltlands, Tainan (夕遊-井仔腳瓦盤鹽田 + 北門, 台南)
Sunset over salt
The western coast of Taiwan is often a strange and desolate place. Flares from refineries twinkle over oyster farms and long roads thread between calm aquaculture pools. It is unexpectedly beautiful in places, particularly as it faces the setting sun. Some of the oldest towns in the country are found here so there are plenty of historical sites. I recently went to Beimen town and the remnants of the salt pans around it on the invite of the Tainan Tourism Bureau. Although a guest as ever with these articles I will remain impartial and they won’t be making edits.
The main attraction here are the old salt pans at Jingzijiao which are the oldest in Taiwan. They were built in 1818 and unusually are laid out with broken pottery so the salt does not stick to the soil.
Desolate salt pans landscape and the glazed bottom of “pan number 16”
The pans were in use right up until 2002 when they became economically unviable. Next to the coastline a group of salt pans have been turned into a photography hotspot. The white glazed water reflects the light of the setting sun and on some days the pans look as though it's ablaze. The even mounds of salt give it a wonderfully alien feel. On a few pans visitors can try out traditional tools and make their own salt mounds.
There are a couple of other quirky sights near the pans. I wandered off along the seawall to a small and not particularly special looking temple. Inside however was a small statue of a figure; half woman and half pig. This is said to be the only temple in the world that honors The Heavenly Mother Pig. There are a few stories behind this figure. One goes that after the butchering of a pregnant sow many townspeople began to get sick. A local religious leader suggested building a temple would help the situation. Nowadays people pray to this deity for a good marriage and give all sorts of offerings (but not pork!). There's a path from here back to the main area.
The Heavenly Pig Mother statue
On the way back take a close look at this old red brick courtyard house built in the 19th century. The walls here are built from coral brought from Penghu and stacked in a charming haphazard way among the ordinary rock. The house also has extra wall with portholes to allow for air circulation and fish drying. The other homes in the area are pretty too but not as interesting as this one.
The little town of Beimen thrived during the salt industry days. It expanded rapidly during the Japanese era as the Government established salt processing and storage facilities here. Some of the buildings from this era remain and have a charming rustic style, like the main offices, while others are more utilitarian.
The old offices and colorful murals on a former salt warehouse
The salt refinery area has been turned into a sort of tourist parkland with seemingly everything that may attract visitors thrown at it. This ranges from random sculptures that have little to do with the area to one of Taiwan's now ubiquitous 'crystal churches'. Part of me dislikes the tacky copycat nature of this sort of development, and yet part of me enjoyed the sheer random nonsense of some of the installations.
Messing around with random sculptures
Why?
I do want to know why there was a giant pair of playing card chairs and a white cello in the middle of a lawn. I do wish it all had a little more to do with the area and wasn't just chucked around the site. But at the same time Taiwan might not be the same without such silliness and I admit I had fun playing around with it.
Birdwatchers will enjoy the wetland areas
Other parts of the site have been turned into exhibition halls, eateries and a small museum. Just off a nearby street is the ominous sounding Blackfoot Disease Museum. Blackfoot was a nasty sounding affliction that was caused by drinking from wells contaminated with arsenic. Gradually the arsenic shrunk people's arteries which lead to gangrene and the darkening of limb extremities. Often feet were affected first and many sufferers eventually required amputation. It was unique to this part of Taiwan and for many years the cause was unknown.
The free clinic services were supported by the church
At this location local doctor Wang Jing He operated a clinic that was a center for treating blackfoot disease. He offered his services free for many patients and his selfless devotion is remembered here. His story and the battle with blackfoot disease is told in the museum and old medical equipment is on display. The museum keeps unusual opening hours, just operating from 10 to 4 from Thursdays to Sundays.
A nightmarish looking surgical table
The town area itself is quite charming with lots of traditional red brick houses remaining, a finely detailed temple, and a few elegant shophouses.
Part of Beimen main street
Some derpy looking milkfish hung out to dry. Milkfish are delicious and have few bones. They are something of a local specialty
A last look at the old salt pans
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