The usage of salt in China originates in the city of Yuncheng and the Salt Lake there was the earliest one discovered and explored by our ancestors who began to consume salt more than 5000 years ago, according to the record of Hedong Salt Law. This is a great initiative of the Chinese nation in advantage of nature, which brought them to a new stage beyond barbarism.
The Salt Lake is in the shape of Yuanbao (shoe-shaped gold or silver ingots as a currency in ancient China) , which is long from east to west, narrow from north to south, high around and low in the middle. It runs along Zhongtiao Mountains to the south, Mount Emei to the north, the county of Xiaxian to the east and the town of Haizhou to the west, covering an area of 132 square kilometers. It is known as one of the world's three major inland salt lakes of sodium sulphate, together with the other two salt lakes, Ogding in Utah of the U.S.A and Kuchuk in Siberia of Russia.
There is a tunnel on Zhongtiao Mountains in the south of the Salt Lake. The wind, which comes out from the south in midsummer, rumbling and skirring, serves as the midwife facilitating the birth of salt overnight. Over thousands of years, people living here have drawn on the five-step process to produce salt in their long-term production process, which is the earliest recorded salt production craft of the whole world. It was acclaimed as the living fossil in the history of science and technology in ancient China by the British scientist Joseph Needham. Later, people invented the method of pouring and drying salt in a patch of land, which greatly improved the yield and its stability. Salt produced in the city of Yuncheng has been sold in many parts of China and even abroad due to its high yield and good quality. It is praised it as the treasure of Jin (the short form of Shanxi) by Liu Zongyuan, one of the eight masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties.
Salt is a special commodity, which has been regarded as an important financial source and economic pillar of the country in all dynasties.
For thousands of years, the city of Yuncheng has accumulated profound history and culture of salt. In the Spring and Autumn period, it was called the city of salt; in the Warring States period, it was called the salt clan; in the Han Dynasty, it was the city governing salt business; in Song and Yuan Dynasties, it was also known as Phoenix City in charge of salt business transportation. All is all, in ancient China, the city of Yuncheng was the only one built and well-known for its salt business. Besides, there have been some legends on salt, such as the unique technology and technology of salt shoveling, the changes of salt policy and salt transportation, the complete protective facilities for Salt Lake, ancient forbidden walls for flood control and anti-theft, seventy-two long dykes, the unique Tang Dynasty architecture Yanchi Temple in honor of God of salt, and the story of a mute maiden saving salt and Mute Maiden Lake. In particular, ancient Chinese king Yu Shun, standing on the side of the Yungang hill, sang one of the oldest ballads the Southern Wind to the five string harp: the Southern Wind fumigates, and solves my people’s anger; when it comes, it makes our people much richer.
In recent years, Shanxi NaFine Chemical Group has further enriched and expanded the connotation of salt culture and developed a floating bathing place with the reputation of the Chinese Dead Sea, attracting more and more tourists to enjoy black mud bathing, which integrates medical care, skin care and beauty care. The Salt Lake is increasingly developing with new vitality.
