Tibet salt well
Yanjing is located in the southeast of Tibet, between Deqin County, Yunnan Province and Mangkang, Tibet. It is adjacent to Batang, Sichuan Province in the northeast, Deqin in Yunnan Province in the south, and Zhayu, Bitu, Menkong, Zuogong County, Tibet in the west. , with an altitude of 2,400 meters, which is similar to that of Lijiang, Yunnan. It is one of the areas with the lowest altitude in Tibet, and the climate is relatively warm and comfortable.
The name of the salt well comes from the fact that brine with extremely high salt content will naturally emerge from the rocks beside the Lancang River. The local people will introduce the brine into the pre-built salt pan. After several days of wind and sun, the brine will evaporate naturally. White salt grains will crystallize on it, which is the oldest way of making salt in the world.
History of Salt Wells
Yanjing is a magical place in Tibet. Historically, it was the main road from Tubo to Nanzhao, and it was also the only way for Yunnan tea to be transported to Tibet. The cultural landscape of Yanjing and Yantian is now the only surviving artificial original salt-drying landscape on the "Tea-Horse Ancient Road". The local government has declared Yanjing as a world cultural heritage.
Yanjing has a long history of producing salt. As early as before the Tubo Dynasty in Tibet, there were salt fields when the tribes in Tibet occupied one side. It is said that among the six hills of Duokang, Mangkang Hill is the hill that produces table salt. It has always been famous in ancient times.
According to legend, King Gesar and Naxi King Qiangba competed for salt in the salt well, which was called the "Battle of Qiangling". In the end, King Gesar defeated Qiangba, occupied the salt well, and captured King Naxi's son Yula alive. In the late period of the Tubo Dynasty in Tibet, the Naxi prince Youla became the Naxi minister of King Gesar, and the salt field was given to the Naxi prince Youla. The oldest and most primitive salt production method is still preserved until now.
Living fossil-like salt production method
The salt produced by the salt well has some magical features. For example, on both sides of the Lancang River, the west bank is low and slow, and the salt fields are wide. Salt.
The terrain to the east of the Lancang River is relatively narrow, and wooden frames are used to build blocks of "salt fields" on the edge of the canyon. From the top to the bottom, the salt fields are at least row upon row, but the salt produced here is pure white, called white salt.
The color of red salt and white salt is said to be related to the soil quality of the salt field. The output of red salt is high, but the price is low. Most of the white salt is sun-dried in the Jiangdong highlands, and the amount is small and slightly expensive. The following is the white salt field.
Salt well The production method of the salt industry is currently the unique method of drying salt in the world, and it is also the most primitive method of drying salt. Not only the production tools are primitive, but the method is also the most primitive, which is purely natural and natural drying.
The salt fields in Yanjing are known as "the work of the sun and the wind". The villagers built thousands of salt fields on both sides of the Lancang River. Each time they are filled with brine, they can be harvested on each salt field after two or three days of wind and sun. About 10 kilograms of crystalline salt can be regarded as a gift from nature.
These white icicle-like things under the salt pan are actually salt pillars, which are stalactite crystal salts formed under the salt pan by brine seeping into the bottom of the salt pan.
Taste it, it is indeed very salty, and it is estimated that a dish of salt can be fried with a pillar of salt.
Although this kind of air-dried salt is relatively easy to obtain, you only need to build a salt field, pour brine into it, and then it can be harvested after a few days of natural drying, but this kind of salt is not refined table salt after all, and the price in the market is extremely low, so the more More and more young people no longer engage in such difficult and low-income occupations, and instead go to other places to work to earn more money, so most of the people engaged in this work are women and the elderly.
Before there were any water pumps in the early days, it was women who carried buckets of brine from the river to the salt fields. After the salt was dried, they had to bend down to collect the salt. Over the years, these women were bent by the brine buckets. The vicissitudes of time are also portrayed on the waist and face, and the work is for a lifetime. This kind of woman who has been engaged in salt making crafts for life has a unique name called salt woman.
This is the salt woman who is collecting salt by the Lancang River. Her hard work every day not only reaps the gift of nature, but also inherits this ancient salt-making process.
At present, according to incomplete statistics, there are still more than 3,200 salt fields along the Lancang River. Because the most primitive production technology and the simplest manual method are adopted, the output is not too large. All the salt fields are added together, and the total output for a year is not much. More than 700,000 catties are mainly sold to the surrounding mountainous villages.
But the hand-built salt field and the unique ancient salt drying method are naturally integrated with the mountains and valleys on both sides of the Lancang River, forming a unique cultural landscape on the Lancang River.
How to go to Tibet Salt Well:
Yanjing is located at the junction of Yunnan and Tibet. It is also 113 kilometers away from Deqin, the closest county in Yunnan to Tibet. If you start from Lijiang, you have to take a shuttle bus to Shangri-La, and then transfer from Shangri-La to Deqin (Note: Lijiang has no direct bus to Deqin. shuttle). Because it is almost night in Deqin, and there is no car to Mangkang, it is best to rush from Deqin to Feilai Temple to live, so that the purpose is to enjoy the spectacular and sacred Meili Snow Mountain the next day. After enjoying the sunshine Jinshan of Meili Snow Mountain, take the bus from Deqin or Feilai Temple to Yanjing. Since it is a rural passenger transport and the speed limit in Tibet, it is almost two or three o'clock in the afternoon to arrive at Yanjing. Now Yanjing has set up a scenic spot and started to sell tickets, 90 yuan per person. Due to the large area of the scenic spot, many places need to go on foot, which is relatively hard. Of course, there are many scenes that can be photographed. Produced many excellent blockbusters.
Choose a better way to travel
Of course, if you feel that it is not worth spending a few days to toss for a single niche attraction, but you want to visit Tibetan areas in depth and experience different people and customs, then it is ideal to go to a professional outdoor club. s Choice. Currently we are
The outdoor activities of the Yunnan-Tibet Line, the Great Shangri-La Ring Road, and the 7-day activities of the Yunnan-Sichuan-Tibet-Luya Line all include the scenic spot of Yanjing Yantian, so that there is no need to spend a lot of money to charter a car or take a long shuttle bus to go there , there are professional outdoor club leaders and companions to accompany you to enjoy the beautiful scenery. I believe that the harvest is not only the scenery on the road, but also more wonderful moments and good memories.
Itinerary reference to Yanjing
The Yunnan-Tibet Line, the Ancient Tea-Horse Road, the Sichuan-Tibet Line, and the Nyingchi-Shannan Ring Line classic crossing for 9 days:
(The whole journey: about 2300 kilometers)
Day 1: Lijiang - Tiger Leaping Gorge - Xiaozhongdian - Napa Haiyila Grassland - Dukezong Ancient City 180km
Day 2: Shangri-La - Moon Bay - White Horse Snow Mountain - Feilai Temple 180km
Day 3: Meili Snow Mountain - Lancang River Grand Canyon - Hongla Mountain - Yanjing - Mangkang 210km
Day 4: Mangkang - Zuogong - Bangda grassland - 72 turns - Basu 360km
Day 5: Basu - Ranwu Lake - Laigu Glacier - Bomi 220km
Day 6: Bomi - Tongmai - Pailong - Lulang - Nyingchi 348km [Live in Suosong Village during the Peach Blossom Festival]
Day 7: Nyingchi - Lang County - Jiacha County 357km
Day 8: Jiacha County-- Ramlacuo-- Yarlung Zangbo River Canyon-- Sangri County--Zedang 232km
Day 9: Zedang - Samye Monastery - Gangbala Snow Mountain - Yamdrok Yongcuo - Lhasa 238km
Yunnan, Sichuan, Tibet, Shangri-La, the circular line and the Luya line cross for seven days: