Southwest Coast National Scenic Area

Bromine is an important chemical, widely applied to fire retardants, extinguishers, refrigerants, medicine, pesticide, chemical, fertilizer, etc.

In late Japanese colonial period, Japanese fighters were in need of fuels extracted from either condensed sea water or brine water. Since the raw materials made from brine water were mainly from salt fields, the military fuel factories were all built around salt fields.

In 1939, the joint venture among three corporations, Nippon Soda Corporation, Japan Salt Corporation, and Taiwan Development Corporation established the South Japan Chemical Industry Company in Kaohsiung City and invested a factory in Anping and its branches in Budai, Beiman and other areas. Beimen Bromine-Making Tower was one of the branch factories.

The main structure of Beimen Bromine-Making Tower was originally built with cement, wood, bricks along with iron sheets. Today, the 30-or-so-square-meter tower located on the side of Provincial Highway No.17 was left with merely red bricks since the iron sheets and woods were removed after Taiwan's retrocession. It may seem mottled on the outside, but the fact that it had served the country is undeniable.