Beimen Tide Gate Introduction
Beimen Bromine Tower, during wartime, was a manufacturing factory for military explosives. Bromine was an important chemical raw material widely used in flame retardants, extinguishing agents, refrigerants, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and chemical fertilizers. During the war, the Japanese colonial empire extracted bromine from concentrated seawater or brine produced in salt fields to meet the demand for explosives in military aviation fuel. Consequently, such munitions manufacturing factories were built near salt fields. In 1939, three companies—Nippon Soda, Nippon Salt Industry, and Taiwan Development Company—jointly established the Nan Nippon Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. in Kaohsiung City, setting up the Anping Factory in Anping, Tainan City, and sub-factories in Budai and Beimen, with Beimen Bromine Tower being one of them. The Beimen Bromine Tower is primarily composed of a cement, wood, and brick structure covered with iron sheeting. After the war, the iron sheeting and wood were dismantled by residents, leaving only the red brick tower, which can still be seen today with the inscription "Three in One, plus one." According to local elders, the brine source came from the areas around Zhongzhou and Jengzi Jiao in Beimen (at that time, the Beimen salt field included five districts: Keliou, Wangye Port, Jengzi Jiao, Beimen, and Zhongzhou), using bamboo tubes made from square Moso bamboo to transport the brine for bromine production. Currently situated next to Taiwan Route 17, the Beimen Bromine Tower occupies an area of about a dozen pings. Its exterior is gradually deteriorating, yet it still stands as a testament to the historical weight it once bore.
