Beimen Tiangong Temple Introduction
Beimen Bromine Tower, during wartime, the bromine production factory was an important chemical raw material widely used in flame retardants, fire extinguishing agents, refrigerants, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, chemical fertilizers, and other applications. During the war, the Japanese colonial empire extracted bromine from concentrated seawater or brine, required for the explosives in military aviation fuel. As the production materials came from the brine produced in salt fields, such military raw material manufacturing factories were built near salt fields. In 1939, three companies: Chuo Sangyo, Nittetsu Salt Co., and Taiwan Development Company formed the "Nan Nippon Kagaku Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha" in Kaohsiung City, establishing the Anping Factory in Tainan City and branch factories in Budai and Beimen, among which the Beimen Bromine Tower is one. The Beimen Bromine Tower is primarily constructed of cement, wood, brick, and covered with iron sheets. After the war, the iron sheets and wood were dismantled by the public, leaving only the remaining "three in one, plus one" red brick high tower that can still be seen today. According to local elders, the brine source came from the areas around Zhongzhou and Jingziciao in Beimen (at that time, the Beimen Salt Field included five areas: Keeliao, Wangye Port, Jingziciao, Beimen, and Zhongzhou), using bamboo pipes made from square Moso bamboo to transport brine for bromine production. Currently, the Beimen Bromine Tower, located adjacent to Taiwan Highway 17, covers an area of about a dozen pings. From a distance, the appearance of the building shows signs of deterioration, but it still reflects the significant history it once bore.
