Local Culture:
The Worship of Mazu
Mazu or Tianhou (the Holy Mother in Heaven) is said to be a goddess who lived long ago. It is also known as the Goddess of the Sea. Every year, thousands of people pay homage to Mazu on the island of only 16 square kilometers, in Meizhou Bay near the city of Putian in eastern Fujian .
Chinese people have been worshipping Mazu as the Goddess of the Sea for more than one thousand years. It is said that she is a superbly intelligent girl with extraordinary kindness and marvelous power. Due to her many good deeds to sailors and fishermen in difficulties, she is also known as "the daughter of the dragon (who governs the sea in Chinese legendary)."
On the 23rd day of the third lunar month, Mazu's birthday, people are gaily dressed singing and dancing as they pay homage to Mazu. Usually, there is a group of women wearing tall, sail-shaped hairstyles and half-red, half-blue wide-legged trousers, which are believed to be modeled on the costume Mazu used to wear. They are called "Meizhou Women".
