Millennium Ancient Salt Fields

　　The Millennium Ancient Salt Fields are located in Yantian Village on the Yangpu Peninsula in Hainan. Covering an area of 750 acres, these salt fields have a history of over 1,200 years. Legend has it that they were created by salt workers who migrated from Putian in Fujian. Based on the characteristics of Hainan’s high temperatures and strong sunlight, the salt workers changed the traditional method of “boiling seawater to make salt,” instead using sun-dried beach mud and sand to filter seawater and produce highly saline brine. This brine was then poured into stone troughs and dried under the sun to make salt. Due to the delicious taste of the salt and its therapeutic effects on various ailments, Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty, upon hearing about it, inscribed the characters “正德” (meaning “Upright Virtue”) and bestowed them upon the salt field workers.

　　Hainan’s Millennium Ancient Salt Fields are hailed as one of the earliest solar-evaporation salt production sites, and to this day, they preserve well-preserved, primitive, traditional salt-making processes.

　　Currently, there are more than 1,000 inkstone-shaped stone salt troughs of various forms scattered across the beach. Today, there are still over 30 salt worker households in Yantian Village, who continue to work on these salt fields every day, following the ancient methods that have been passed down for over 1,200 years.