Mangkang Salt Wells, a thousand-year-old salt field: The living Tea Horse Road

Layer upon layer, orderly and picturesque, The thousand-year-old salt field is the most beautiful scenery by the banks of the Lancang River. - The thousand-year-old salt field is located on both sides of the Lancang River in Naxi Nationality Township, Mangkang County, Changdu City. The salt field has a long history, with more than a thousand years of history, and there are currently more than 3,000 salt pans. The 1300-year-old salt field is also known as the living Tea Horse Road. - The only place in the world that completely maintains the most primitive manual salt sun-drying method. The salt sun-drying technique has been listed in the national intangible cultural heritage protection, known as 'the work of the sun and wind' in Tibetan 'Chakarlo'. - The salt field is located by the Lancang River. Villagers take brine from natural brine wells on both banks with wooden barrels, pour it into the salt fields, and let the sun evaporate the water to produce coarse salt, which is then dried and processed into edible salt. The salt fields use local red clay as a base. When harvesting salt, the upper layer of white salt (snowflake salt) is used for consumption. The lower layer mixed with some red clay is purplish-red, known as peach blossom salt, which has a high yield and is used for health baths and feeding livestock. - |Mangkang Salt Wells| 📍Coordinates: Salt Well Town, Naxi Nationality Township, Mangkang County, Changdu Area 🎫Ticket: Free FREE - ⏰Best photography time: The blue hour before sunrise or after sunset is very photogenic. I personally recommend going one to two hours before sunset, as the canyon sunset is relatively early. Moreover, you can meet people working in the salt fields in the afternoon, and there won't be anyone early in the morning. - 💃Dressing tips: 1️⃣It is recommended to wear sports shoes or non-slip shoes, as the slope down to the salt field from the highway is steep and slippery, and quite difficult to walk. 2️⃣For photography, you can choose bright colors to form a stark contrast with the salt fields. 3️⃣Finally, it is advised to take photos civilly and not leave any trash behind.