Jingzijiao Tile-Paved Salt Field

位於台南縣北門鄉的井仔腳瓦盤鹽田，至今已有180多年的歷史了，是台灣目前最悠久、最古老的人工曬鹽場。曬鹽產業沒落後，大部份的鹽田都已荒廢，井仔腳鹽田的復育，不僅讓傳統曬鹽文化得以保存，還讓這蕭條的漁村應觀光又重新活了過來。

Jingzijiao Tile-Paved Salt Field is located in the Beimen Township, Tainan County. It is the oldest manual salt production filed in Taiwan and has 180 year history. Most salt fields in Taiwan have been abandoned. The restoration of the Jingzijiao Salt Field not only preserved the traditional salt production culture, but also brought tourists to this rundown fisherman village

台灣的鹽田分為二種，土盤鹽田與瓦盤鹽田，而井仔腳鹽田則是屬於瓦盤鹽田。瓦盤鹽田是用碎瓦片、甕片平鋪在結晶池上，讓瓦片隔離泥土與鹽，以採收較為潔淨的粗鹽。

There are 2 kinds of salt fields in Taiwan, Sand-Paved, and Tile-Paved Salt Field. Jingzijizo Salt Field is the Tile-Paved. The Tile-Paved Salt Field is formed by manually laying the broken debris of pottery and tiles onto the crystallizing ponds of the salt fields. This approach resulted in purer and clearer salt being mined.

瓦片的吸熱效果佳，因此結晶速度快，為瓦盤鹽田的另一個優點，台灣早期的鹽田均屬於瓦盤鹽田。但用砂土和黏土混合碾壓的土盤鹽田，雖然結晶速度較慢、鹽質粗大，但其產量較大，所需投入的人力與成本也較低，因此台灣後期的鹽田，大多改為土盤鹽田。

One of the advantages of the tile-paved salt field is to make salt fast because the tile absorbed the heat fast. The Sand-Paved Salt Field is mixed with sand and compacted clay. The process of making salt is slower, but it can produce a large quantity so that the cost is lower. Sand-Paved Salt Field has become the practice in Taiwan afterwards.

每天都會有二、三個老鹽工在這裡做管理維護的工作，因此可以看到戴著斗笠、花布巾與袖套的鹽工的工作情形。不過，想捕捉耙鹽、曬鹽的畫面，還得趕在五點前，不然阿姨們可是要下班囉！

There are always 2-3 workers in the field. They wear bamboo rain hat, flower handkerchief, and arm covers. However, in order to take photos of them, you need to be there before 5:00pm before they are off work!

井仔腳鹽田是開放式的，沒有參觀時間的限制，不管何時來到，遊客可以逕自走進結晶池裡，體驗耙鹽與挑鹽的樂趣。

Jingzijiao Salt Field is open with no time limit. You can come to the crystal pond anytime to experience the fun of raking and picking salt.

耗鹽的工作叫做「鹽收仔」，是用竹子製成的，把鹽收仔從四周往中間推去，就可以推出一層粗鹽來。不過，我到訪時才剛下了二天的雨，所以收不了鹽。

“Yanshouzi” is a process to push all the salt to the center of the pond by a bamboo stick. However, it was raining for 2 days before I was there, so this process could not be made.

井仔腳鹽田假日時有提供免費導覽，可以到「雲嘉南濱海國家風景區管理處」詢問時間與登記，參觀完導覽後還能獲得紀念鹽袋一個，遊客可以自行裝粗鹽帶回家做紀念。

There are free guides provided during weekends and holidays. You can check and reserve at “Southwest Coast National Scenic Area Management Office”. A free salt bag is also provided to each visitor to take home.

結晶池僅是鹽田的一部份，還有大蒸發池、小蒸發池及高低鹵池，海水引入後會依序引入這些池子裡，到了結晶池的時候曝曬約三至五天，海水濃度達一定標準時，就可以進行收鹽的動作。登上鹽田旁三層樓的「海防崗哨」，可以欣賞到井仔腳鹽田全貌，照片中的為整齊的結晶池。

Beside crystal pond, there are also large and small evaporation ponds. After the sea water comes in, it would be directed to these ponds and exposed to the sun for 3-5 days in the crystal ponds. When the seawater density reaches to center level, the salt can be formed. I climbed up to the “Coastal Defense Mound” to view the entire salt field.

要將海水由低水位的池子引至高水位的池子，靠的就是水車了。在小蒸發池邊有三、四座水車，可供遊客體驗。

Watermill is to redirect the seawater from the lower level pond to the higher level pond. There are 3-4 watermills by the evaporation pond for the visitors to experience.

鹽田的堤防外是成片的蚵棚，傍晚時漫步在堤防上是件很愜意的事。這裡除了是欣賞蚵棚與夕陽之美的極佳之地外，每天秋冬還是觀賞黑腹燕鷗飛舞的地方。可惜的是，這裡白天明明很晴朗，到了傍晚卻開始出現大片烏雲，我只看到一點點的彩霞，然後就被烏雲蓋住了，沒能見到傳說中的夕陽美景。

Outside the embankment is the oyster farm. Strolling on the embankment is quite comfortable during sunset. This is the place to watch the oyster farm, sunset and Whiskered Tern during fall and winter seasons. Unfortunately I was not able to see the sunset since it was covered by the dark clouds. It was pretty clear in the morning, but it became dark towards sunset.

雖然沒見到夕陽，但能一償宿願親眼見到這片古老的鹽田，已覺得心滿意足了。

Although I did not see the sunset, I was very happy to see this old salt field.

不管是晴天雨天、清晨還是黃昏，這裡都有著不同的風情，而邊騎單車邊欣賞是最愜意的方式了。

It offers different atmosphere no matter during a clear, raining, morning or evening. Biking around it is quite pleasant.

井仔腳瓦盤鹽田旁有幾個販售冷飲、冰品及現捕魚蟹等海鮮的攤位，除了買枝鹹冰棒解熱消暑外，「鹽焗蛋」是我個人認為來到北門鄉最不可錯過的拌手禮了。鹽焗蛋是將皮蛋放入炒熱的天然海鹽裡悶熟的一道在地鹽焗料理，口感特別的Q彈，且蛋黃不像一般的皮蛋蛋黃濕軟，而是呈紮實綿密狀，真的十分好吃！

There are a couple snack vendors around the salt field selling cold drinks and fresh seafood. Besides the Salty Popsicle, the “Salt Steamed Egg” is something to take home with in Beimen Township. The “Salt Steamed Egg” was made by cooking the Thousand-Year Old Egg in the stir fried sea salts. It tastes very good. The egg yolk became harder, no longer soft, but very tasty! Read More