Jingzaijiao Tile-paved Salt Fields

The Jingzaijiao Tile-paved Salt Fields (井仔腳瓦盤鹽田) in Beimen District, Tainan, are Taiwan's oldest surviving salt fields, with a history stretching back over 200 years. Originally established in 1818 as part of the Laidong Salt Field (瀨東場) during the Qing dynasty, the site was relocated to its present location at Jingzaijiao after flooding destroyed the previous salt works.

During the Japanese colonial period (1895-1945), Taiwan's salt industry was placed under strict government control as part of the colonial monopoly system (專賣制度). In 1919, the Taiwan Salt Manufacturing Company (臺灣製鹽株式會社) acquired the Jingzaijiao salt fields, transforming independent salt farmers into company laborers. The Japanese administration modernized salt production techniques across Taiwan, building refineries at Anping, Lukang, Budai, and Wushulin to improve both output and quality.

During World War II, salt became a strategically vital resource. It was essential for food preservation for military rations, chemical manufacturing (particularly soda ash and chlorine production), and various industrial processes supporting the war effort. The colonial government intensified production quotas across all Taiwan salt fields, including Jingzaijiao, to meet wartime military and industrial demands. The fields at nearby Qigu were also expanded during this period.

After Japan's surrender in 1945, the salt fields continued operating under the Republic of China government. In 1952, the field underwent a major redesign, becoming a centralized-layout tile-paved salt field — the distinctive mosaic-like tile pattern that gives the site its name, where broken tiles are laid on the crystallization ponds to prevent salt from mixing with mud. Salt production finally ceased in the early 2000s — in 2000 after 182 years according to one account, in 2002 according to another — as industrial salt imports made traditional solar evaporation methods economically unviable.

Salt-making was revived for tourism beginning in 2003, and on August 24, 2009 the site was registered as a historic building by Tainan County (now Tainan City). Today visitors can experience traditional salt-harvesting techniques firsthand, and the fields are renowned for their spectacular sunset views reflected in the shallow salt pans. The site serves as an important reminder of Taiwan's colonial-era industrial heritage and the lives of generations of salt workers.