In China, saltiness is deemed as the most important flavor.
在中国的烹饪辞典里盐是百味之首
Every day except for rainy ones,Liu Yingwu is busy working in the brine pan.
不下雨的日子里，阿刘每天都要在盐田里忙碌
You have to constantly stir the water so that the salt is evenly distributed.
把盐水搞均匀一点啊，结盐的时候就比较平均一点了
It doesn't look good.The crystallization is too slow.
不好，结晶太慢了
Liu lives by the sea in eastern Guangdong.
阿刘的家在粤东海边
For generations his fellow villagers have been making salt for a living,
村民世代以晒盐为生
following the time-honored production tradition.
至今沿用着古老的制盐方法

This way of distilling salt from sea water can be traced back to 400 years ago.
用海水晒盐的盐田法可以追溯到400多年前的古代中国
But as early as 5000 years ago the Chinese had known how to boil sea water to get salt.
而中国人发明海水煮盐则早在5000多年之前
Liu runs 17 salt fields in total.
阿刘的盐田一共有17块，
The seashore is about 1 km away.
这里离大海只有一公里之遥
4-year-old Liu Taotao likes to accompany his father to the brine pans.
4岁的刘滔滔每天最开心的事就是跟随父亲来盐田
Sea water is stored in this well.
晒盐的海水储存在这个水井里
It is connected with the sea by an underground culvert.
井下有暗渠通向大海
Sea salt is the result of evaporation of sea water.
海水晒盐依赖阳光和流动的空气
While the water evaporates,the remaining part gradually saturates, and finally salt crystallizes.
水分逐渐蒸发，盐度饱和，食盐开始结晶
It's a quiet and peaceful procedure.
这一切平静而自然