Oyster Bed March

 

Passing through Fangyuan in Changhua County, one can see old farmers still using ox carts to tend their oyster beds in the traditional way.

These local women are all old hands at shucking oysters. (Wanggong, Changhua County)

Just as grain farmers must check their fields, so too do oyster farmers need to patrol their oyster beds. (Fangyuan, Changhua County)

The shucked oysters are put in brine to preserve their flavor. (Dongshi, Chiayi County)

 

 

Their day’s work done, oxen and drivers head home as the sun sets behind them. (Fangyuan, Changhua County)
 

Looking down from the sky on the coastline of Chiayi County’s Dongshi Township, one sees a multitude of oyster cages floating on the water, part of the oyster farms that are a common sight on Taiwan’s west coast. At low tide, oyster farmers set out on their flat-bottomed boats, weaving between the oyster cages to collect string after string of big, juicy oysters. After that, ladies congregate in courtyards of traditional sanheyuan, chatting as they deftly cut open the oyster shells, the women’s hands worn and scarred from years of work.

Passing through Fangyuan in Changhua County, one can see old farmers still using ox carts to tend their oyster beds in the traditional way. Under the golden twilight of dusk, the oxen pulling their carts and drivers make their lonely way through the vast intertidal zone as they head home in a scene that is destined to become history in just a few years.