A precious crop
Each year, when the final spring tide recedes, leaving behind fertile alluvial riverbanks, and the December-to-April dry season drops its first rays of sun upon the Mekong Delta, my mind wanders back to Bac Lieu. Bac Lieu is at its most stunning when every field is filled with busy salt farmers preparing for a new harvest.
Deemed the capital of Vietnam’s salt trade, Bac Lieu is among the country’s largest salt production areas. Thanks to its location on the Mekong Delta’s coast and its clean and sweet seawater with high salinity, Bac Lieu has earned a fine reputation for its salt across Vietnam’s South. Settlers of Chinese ethnicity were the first to lay the foundations for this region’s salt trade. During the resistance wars against the French and Americans, only wealthy households were permitted to farm salt in the riverside fields. To this day, many huge mansions owned by salt tycoons during the French colonial era still remain.
My love and longing for Bac Lieu surges every salt-harvesting season, not only because of the poetic and unique beauty of the salt fields but also thanks to the salt farmers’ dedication. The labor-intensive and low-income salt trade has never deterred them. The manual salt-making process is arduous and involves many steps. Despite this, these admirable people still choose to toil in the salt fields, devoted to the craft that produces clean salt, a seasoning indispensable to our everyday life. As if the love for this traditional trade is in their blood, they have never opted for a less laborious occupation, upholding their integrity and responsibility to preserve this livelihood that has been passed down through the generations.
The prominent salt-making localities of Bac Lieu, Hoa Binh, and Dong Hai districts have production areas spanning 1,600ha, yielding over 90,000 tons of salt each year. With a hundred-year history of development, the practices of this exceptional craft have been passed down through generations. The “Bac Lieu salt trade” has been certified as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage. Bac Lieu’s salt fields are near and dear to my heart and serve as my go-to sightseeing and photography destination.
