The highest standard Mazu cultural event in the Greater Bay Area will be held at Guangzhou University Town.
Passing on culture and connecting mountains and seas through intangible heritage. On October 18th (the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, Chongyang Festival), the grand ceremony commemorating the 1039th anniversary of Mazu’s ascension and the opening ceremony of the second Mazu World Intangible Cultural Heritage Festival will be held at the Lingnan Impression Garden in Guangzhou University Town. This event is a grand and high-standard Mazu cultural-themed intangible heritage event in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area in 2026, gathering over a thousand Mazu cultural practitioners, scholars, intangible heritage experts, and representatives of entrepreneurs from across the country, rooted in the ancestral home of the patriotic entrepreneur Mr. Huo Yingdong, with the core theme of “Sailing with Mazu, Spreading Blessings to the World,” aiming to comprehensively inherit, revitalize, and promote Mazu’s world intangible cultural heritage.
This event is guided by the second department of the “China Rule of Law Culture Network,” co-hosted by the Boao Intangible Cultural Heritage and Tourism Industry Development Conference, the Chinese Mazu Cultural Heritage Research Institute of the Digital Intangible Cultural Heritage Research Group, exclusively organized by Guangzhou National Exhibition Co., Ltd., and supported by various cultural and industry organizations including Guangzhou Yiguo Cultural Communication Co., Ltd., Guangzhou Hongwan International Cultural and Art Exchange Co., Ltd., Guangzhou Zhongzhan Media Co., Ltd., the Foshan Craft Art Industry Association’s Intangible Heritage Committee, and Guangdong Aitianxia, with an authoritative lineup, well-organized structure, and nationwide influence.
The ninth day of the ninth lunar month is the anniversary of Mazu’s ascension. The Mazu Autumn Festival is one of the three major national ceremonies in China, alongside the Huangdi Mausoleum ceremony and the Confucius ceremony. In 2009, Mazu’s belief was officially listed as a representative work of humanity’s intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO, a brilliant treasure of Chinese maritime culture and folk culture, and an important link connecting the emotions of overseas Chinese and promoting cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries. On the day of the event, a series of unique cultural activities will be staged, rich in content and profound in heritage, covering Mazu sacrificial ceremonies, Mazu reading clubs, forums on Chinese filial culture, seminars on Mazu wisdom empowerment, Mazu blessing vegetarian banquets, intangible heritage performances, and the opening ceremony gala, immersively showcasing the core spirit of Mazu: “Cultivating Virtue, Doing Good, and Great Love.”
In the afternoon, the Autumn Festival Mazu Blessing Ceremony will be grandly held at the Dragon Boat Square, with the sound of gongs and drums resonating, and celestial music echoing everywhere. Mazu followers from various regions including Fujian, Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Taiwan, Macau, Hong Kong, Zhuhai, and Zhongshan gathered spontaneously, dressed in yellow robes or draped in sashes, cleansing their hands and hearts, paying homage to the goddess of peace and happiness, Mazu, and various sages who ascended on the Chongyang Festival, offering gifts to Doumu Yuanjun, the Emperor of the Nine Sovereigns, the Lady of the Waters, the Emperor of Fengdu, the Emperor of Chongyang, the birth of the Prince of the Central Altar, the God of Fire, and others. The event was grand and magnificent, leaving a profound impression on all attendees.
In the evening, the second Mazu World Intangible Cultural Heritage Festival will be grandly held at Tianhou Square, where the park is filled with lights and festivities, with guests gathering by the mountains and waters, enjoying the vibrant atmosphere, and engaging in lively discussions.
Master Huang Taiwen, as the chief advisor of the Mazu World Intangible Cultural Heritage Festival and representative of Mazu cultural inheritors, delivered a speech titled “Using Mazu Culture to Educate Talent and Empower Careers” at the opening ceremony. Through a passionate and heartfelt speech, he recounted his experiences of learning Mazu culture, inheriting Mazu wisdom, accepting disciples on behalf of Mazu, promoting and establishing Mazu education, and using Mazu wisdom to empower and guide individuals and their families and careers. He insists on the “creative transformation and innovative development” of Mazu culture while adapting to the times and advancing the inheritance of Mazu wisdom.
Master Huang Taiwen emphasized that Mazu culture is a treasure of Chinese civilization, and the Mazu spirit is a high embodiment of Chinese spirit. Mazu wisdom integrates the insights of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, and it is the magical remedy that enables Mazu to assist people from her lifetime to the present and even into the future in building a community with a shared future for humanity. We must inherit it well.
Master Huang Taiwen calls for us to commemorate Mazu and the culture of sages, not necessarily sticking to the forms traditionally used in temples and the past. We should develop Mazu education through teaching by example; we should not blindly worship Mazu and sages, but rather study and apply their wisdom.
Under the spotlight, the renowned Mazu culture inheritors Huang Taiwen and Chen Lihan, known as the “Chinese Fortune Couple,” joined representatives of Mazu culture from across the country, traditional culture scholars, intangible cultural heritage experts, and entrepreneur guests to collectively launch a series of major activities for this cultural festival. They officially unlocked four core projects: the Boao Mazu Wisdom Forum, the Mazu World Peace Concert, the Mazu Cultural Industry Alliance’s overseas plan, and the Mazu Wisdom Empowerment Project, laying a solid foundation for the industrialization, internationalization, and normalization of Mazu culture.
The keynote speech segment gathered many prominent figures and showcased a wealth of ideas. Subsequently, Liu Muxuan, Vice Chairman of the Boao Intangible Cultural Heritage and Tourism Industry Development Conference Committee, and Chen Lihan, Executive Director of the Chinese Mazu Culture Inheritance Research Institute and Chairman of the Committee, took the stage on behalf of the co-organizers to deliver speeches. They elaborated on their original intentions and plans to deepen the Mazu intangible cultural heritage, build a cultural tourism exchange platform, and promote the creative transformation of traditional culture, announcing that this year’s Mazu World Intangible Cultural Heritage Festival will continue for three months, authorized to be co-hosted in many locations across the country.
Princess Yuping from the Taiwan Ethnic Minority Cultural Promotion Association was invited to give a keynote speech on promoting national peace and unification through Mazu cultural wisdom.
Chen Rongguan, President of the National Exhibition Bay Innovation Center, Vice President of the China-France Economic and Cultural Education Exchange Association, and Chairman of the Guangdong Province Manufacturing Association Youth Enterprise Alliance, delivered a thematic speech titled “Sailing with Mazu, Spreading Fortune to the World,” officially launching the Mazu Global Cultural Tourism Communication Plan to help Mazu culture go abroad and reach the world, relying on the integration of cultural tourism to tell the story of China’s maritime culture.
Additionally, representatives from the Mazu Cultural Industry Alliance, including Li Lijun and overseas entrepreneur He Qiang, took the stage to share insights on the “Mazu Cultural Industry Going Abroad,” discussing from multiple dimensions such as industry integration, international exchange, brand building, and resource collaboration, providing suggestions for the industrialization and global dissemination of Mazu culture.
This year’s Mazu World Intangible Cultural Heritage Festival is based in the Greater Bay Area, radiating across China and aimed at the world. It is rooted in traditional intangible cultural heritage, uses cultural tourism integration as a vehicle, and aims for cultural outreach. Through various forms such as sacrificial ceremonies, academic discussions, cultural performances, and industrial empowerment, it deeply explores the contemporary connotations of filial piety, benevolence, inclusiveness, and harmony in Mazu culture. The event not only fully inherits the national and world-level intangible cultural heritage customs and rituals but also builds a bridge for exchange and cooperation among academia, industry, and cultural tourism, promoting the deep integration of Mazu traditional culture with the new era of cultural tourism, education, and international communication.
It is also worth mentioning that the organizing committee arranged a “Chongyang Respect for the Elderly” activity during the opening ceremony, where the “Chinese Fortune Couple” (Huang Taiwen and Chen Lihan) and Li Lijun, a female entrepreneur from the Mazu Cultural Industry Alliance, presented “Mazu Blessing Pictures” and Mazu Five Blessings gift boxes to individuals over 70 years old present at the event.
In the future, the organizing committee will continue to implement a series of supporting projects, continuously enhancing the Mazu World Intangible Cultural Heritage brand, and advancing the “Mazu Culture Going Abroad” strategy, allowing the thousand-year wisdom of Mazu to enrich the era and benefit society, and letting the excellent traditional Chinese culture rejuvenate in the Greater Bay Area and reach the world.
This article is reproduced from 【Photo/Text: Guangdong Yishan National Exhibition Team】. It has been translated into more than 20 languages globally, covering over 50 countries and regions, demonstrating the global influence of Mazu culture. Edited by: Lin Bingbin, Luo Fujin New York report. Please indicate the source and retain author information if reprinting. Thank you for your attention and support.
