Hotel Saltwater
Hotel Saltwater is a 2024 Taiwanese period romance drama series produced by the PTS Taigi Channel. Directed by Cheng Wen-tang and Lin Chih-ju, the series stars Chang Yao-jen, Ellen Wu, Huang Di-yang and Emerson Tsai. Filming began in February 2023. The series premiered on 3 March 2024 on the PTS Taigi Channel, with simultaneous streaming on PTS+ and Netflix.
The production received funding from the Kaohsiung Film Archive as part of the "Kaohsiung Drama" initiative. The story is adapted from the youth experiences of agricultural reform activist Tai Chen-yao. Set in 1970s Taiwan under martial law, the narrative follows protagonist Lee Wen-chin as he forms the "Qiaotou Youth Cooperative" and navigates political idealism, love, and deep friendship.
Plot
The series is based on Chen Tseng-chih's 2017 book "Hotel Saltwater: Tai Chen-yao's Revolutionary Youth". Set during the martial law era of 1970s Taiwan, it depicts Lee Wen-chin's participation in the 1979 Formosa Magazine Human Rights Day demonstration for agricultural rights. He faces brutal opposition by the government and this ultimately leads to his imprisonment.The title "Hotel Saltwater" does not refer to a real location; instead, it is political slang used by prisoners to describe jail conditions, where rice was mixed with salted water as a means of survival.