The 19th Macao Mazu Cultural Tourism Festival was held in Macao from October 12 to 14. Lin Jinzan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Meizhou Mazu Temple, attended by invitation, joining guests from Fujian, Macao, and around the world in celebrating Mazu culture and praying for peace and well-being.
Jointly organized by Fujian and Macao, this year's festival was incorporated into the Fujian-Macao cooperation mechanism for the first time, with the Fujian Provincial Government serving as a co-organizer. With Mazu culture as an emotional bond, the program included an opening ceremony and Mazu sacrificial rite, a Mazu procession organized by the Macao Tianhou Temple, a welcome banquet, and a special arts performance. On the festival's opening day, the Fujian-Macao Cultural and Tourism Investment Promotion Conference and Welcome Banquet, part of the 19th Macao Mazu Cultural Tourism Festival, was held in the banquet hall of the Galaxy International Convention Center, bringing together more than 1,000 attendees.
In her address, Fujian Vice Governor Jiang Erxiong said that the Macao Mazu Cultural Tourism Festival serves as an important cultural platform for preserving Mazu belief and customs, strengthening ties between Fujian and Macao, and bringing together Chinese communities at home and abroad. She expressed hope that all parties would carry forward the Mazu cultural heritage and promote the spirit of "virtue, benevolence, and universal love." Drawing on Fujian's position as the birthplace of Mazu culture, she called for full use of the festival platform to deepen exchanges in belief, customs, literature, and the arts, and to share the story of Mazu in the new era.
The tourism festival opened at the A-Ma Cultural Village in Macao at 10 a.m. on the 13th. Guests attending the opening ceremony included Sam Hou Fai, Chief Executive of the Macao Special Administrative Region; Edmund Ho Hau Wah, Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference; Zheng Xincong, Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Macao Special Administrative Region; Cheng Lei, Acting Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China in the Macao Special Administrative Region; Jiang Erxiong, Vice Governor of Fujian Province; Lin Bingkun, Chairman of Taiwan's Non-Partisan Solidarity Union; Lin Jinzan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Meizhou Mazu Temple; Ngan In Leng, Chairman of the Macao Chinese Mazu Foundation; Chan Meng Kam, Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the 19th Macao Mazu Cultural Tourism Festival; and representatives of temples from China and abroad.
After the opening ceremony, a performance of the Mazu Sacrificial Rite, a national-level intangible cultural heritage item, began to the accompaniment of ancient music. Lin Jinzan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Meizhou Mazu Temple, and Chan Meng Pak, Chairman of the Macao Tianhou Temple Management Committee, joined Mazu devotees from various regions in performing the solemn three-offering rite to Mazu.
At around 3 p.m., a procession of more than 3,000 people escorted the sacred statue of Mazu from the Macao Tianhou Temple, proceeding from the waterfront at Fai Chi Kei to Iao Hon Market Garden, where the statue was temporarily enshrined. The procession brought together more than ten folk performance groups, including the Macao Putian and Xianyou Association, the Macao Fu-Pu-Xian Mazu Cultural Friendship Association, the Macao Putian and Xianyou Youth Federation, the Shenzhou Mazu Cultural Exchange Association, and the Macao Jinjing Association. Gongs and drums resounded throughout the route as many residents stopped to watch the ceremony, pay homage, and pray for blessings, creating a lively yet peaceful atmosphere. At 8 p.m., a special cultural performance was staged at Iao Hon Market Garden, bringing the procession to its climax. Inspired by Mazu culture, guests from Fujian and Macao, as well as from China and abroad, prayed together for peace and shared in the occasion.
The visit to Macao further strengthened the friendly ties between the Meizhou Mazu Temple and Macao's Mazu cultural community. Going forward, the Meizhou Mazu Temple will continue to fulfill its leading role as the ancestral home of Mazu belief, preserve and promote the Mazu spirit, and organize Mazu cultural exchanges between Fujian and Macao and with communities in China and abroad, helping pass on China's outstanding traditional culture through exchange and mutual learning.