Province's sprawling expanse of seawater pans produces more salt than anywhere else in China

An employee of the Nanbao Salt Field works in a salt pan in the Caofeidian district of Tangshan city, Hebei province, on May 9. (JI CHUNTIAN / FOR CHINA DAILY)

Located in the Caofeidian district of Tangshan city, Hebei province, the Nanbao Salt Field is one of the largest sea salt producing areas in Asia.

This time of year is spring harvest at the site, and the 23,300 hectares of salt fields bustle with activity as workers operate harvesting machines, dry salt on the sunning grounds and then ship it away by barge.

The Nanbao Salt Field was set up in 1956, and its 3,000-odd salt fields cover an area of some 300 square kilometers. The site generates annual sales revenues of approximately 350 million yuan ($48.83 million).

Workers load salt onto a barge at the Nanbao Salt Field on May 9. (JI CHUNTIAN / FOR CHINA DAILY)

Every spring, sun and wind cause the fields, which resemble large, shallow pans of water, to slowly evaporate. Differences in the salt concentration in each pan result in a multitude of different colors, creating a unique and beautiful landscape along the coast of the Bohai Sea.

In recent years, Caofeidian has leveraged the advantages of the Nanbao Salt Field to promote a salt chemical industry and a circular economy, which is bringing increasingly significant economic benefits.

An aerial photo shows a machine harvesting salt in the field on May 14. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

A worker drives a machine in a salt pan on May 9. (JI CHUNTIAN / FOR CHINA DAILY)

Two workers hold the conveyer belt that loads salt onto a barge on May 9. (JI CHUNTIAN / FOR CHINA DAILY)

A worker dries salt on a sunning ground on May 9. (JI CHUNTIAN / FOR CHINA DAILY)

A worker shovels salt onto a barge on May 9. (JI CHUNTIAN / FOR CHINA DAILY)