ВЕPOНИКА●YOYO●大隻小資優尼斯

台南鯤鯓平安鹽祭 Kunshen Wangye's Salt for Peace Festival

The salt industry enjoys a long history along the southwest coast of Taiwan, dating back to the Ming and early Qing dynasties. The industry was based on solar evaporation of seawater using complex and highly skilled techniques, and it was one of Taiwan's biggest industries for nearly 340 years. It contributed significantly to the country's economic development and provided an essential product for the people's daily life. Although Taiwan has not been a major salt producer since 2002, the Southwest Coast National Scenic Area Administration maintains a traditional working salt field to preserve the history of this important industry in Taiwan.

Late fall to early winter is the best season for observing sea-salt production, thanks to strong coastal winds and scarce rainfall. Several salt-themed activities are held at this time, including the Kunshen Wangye's Salt for Peace Festival at Nankunshen’s Daitian Temple and in Beimen, a center of the traditional salt industry. These events take visitors back to an earlier time when salt was the spice of life on the southwest coast of Taiwan.

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  Kunshen Wangye's Salt for Peace Festival

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  Nankunshen Daitian Temple

台北保生文化祭  Baosheng Cultural Festival

The Dalongdong area, which was formed around two centuries ago, is one of a few well-preserved historic neighborhoods in Taipei City known for its numerous quaint dwellings and religious structures surrounding Bao’an Temple. The Dalongdong Bao’an Temple is by far the most popular among Taiwan’s 300-odd temples dedicated to Baosheng Emperor, according to folklorist Lin Heng-dao. Striving to fulfill its commitment of keeping a grassroots religion alive, creating an old-meets-new vision and a cycle of “new culture”, and innovating on the basis of tradition, the palatial Dalongdong Bao’an Temple, along with its ornate decorations and spatial layout, represents unconventional thinking and methods regarding three-dimensional aesthetics that earned it international accolades such as the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards for Culture Heritage Conservation in 2003.The Temple is famous for hosting the annual Baosheng Cultural Festival, a symbol of Taiwan’s folk religious celebrations, architectural legacies and heritage revitalization efforts, and has attracted locals and visitors alike for two decades. Running from April through May, the festival has not only enlightened an ever-growing participant base about different facets of the country’s religious aesthetics and changes in relevant rituals, but has also, despite its orthodox view of Formosan spirituality, become a culturally influential, globally significant tourist attraction that inspired similar festivities across China and Singapore.

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  Baosheng Cultural Festival

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  Emperor Baosheng / Birthday celebrations