Mazu’s spirit weaves bonds across the seas, and the call for harmony finds echo across five continents. On November 2, the 27th Meizhou Mazu Cultural Tourism Festival grandly kicked off at the Tianhou Square of the Meizhou Mazu Ancestral Temple. The air was filled with the rhythm of ceremonial music and the fragrance of incense, as Mazu devotees, scholars, and tourists from home and abroad gathered, transcending geographical barriers for this cultural gathering imbued with the warmth of intangible heritage and great love.

The opening ceremony unfolded with a solemn and majestic ritual—the awe-inspiring Mazu Sacrificial Ceremony, a national intangible cultural heritage. As one of the “Three Major Sacrificial Ceremonies in China” alongside the Yellow Emperor Mausoleum Ceremony and the Confucius Memorial Ceremony, it vividly conveyed the vitality of the Mazu belief and customs—an intangible cultural heritage of humanity—through its complete ceremonial system and solemn protocols.

Amidst the ceremonial music, each ritual embodied a legacy spanning millennia. Within the solemn atmosphere, the core spirit of “safeguarding the nation, protecting the people, and extending blessings over the seas” grew ever more palpable, allowing attendees to truly feel the cultural warmth of “virtue, kindness, and great love.”

This year’s festival holds a special surprise. For the first time, the opening ceremony featured 11 sub-venues spanning five continents, including Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan, enabling the appeal of Mazu culture to transcend geographical boundaries and achieve global resonance. This cross-continental echo stands as the best testament to the enduring charm of Mazu culture—this “Guardian of the Seas,” originally named Lin Mo, who dedicated her life to saving lives, has now become a spiritual beacon for nearly 300 million devotees worldwide.

After 26 editions of accumulation, the Mazu Cultural Tourism Festival has evolved into a vital platform for intangible cultural heritage preservation and cultural tourism integration. It serves as a spiritual bond and cultural window uniting compatriots across the Taiwan Strait and promoting mutual learning among civilizations. May this warmth that spans a millennium continue to illuminate more hearts.