Bei-Gan Chao-Tien Temple

　 Date  : 19th ~ 20th day of the third lunar month
　 Place: Chao-Tien Temple, Bei-Gang, Yulin County

      The event known as "Bei-Gang Matsu Touring Procession" can be traced back to the era of the Qing Dynasty in 1694. The story begins with the monk Shu-Bi, the founder of the Bei-Gang Chao Tian Temple, who went to Meizhou, China to bring the joss of Matsu to Taiwan and landed on the shore on the 19th day of the third lunar month in that year. It developed into a tradition that the followers make a pilgrimage to the original Matsu temple in Meizhou and come back to Bei-Gang with a big religious procession.

      Bei-Gang used to be called Ben-Gang, with the Ben-Gang River running through the town and dividing it into the north and south port areas. On the first day of the Bei-Gang Matsu touring procession, pilgrims head toward the south, and on the second day they head to the north. The procession is enormous, combining festival troupes with ten thousands of pilgrims, sometimes stretching four or five kilometers. The most remarkable focus of the procession is the numerous exquisitely carved and decorated "art display pavilions." When Matsu's sedan chair appears, the shop owners and spectators along the streets follow the tradition of "bombarding the sedan chair" with huge amounts of firecrackers. The noise from the firecrackers is deafening, with flashes of light and smoke filling the air. The spectacle is frightening yet extremely exiting.

      The two-day procession transforms Bei-Gang into a bustling and resplendent city. More than one million pilgrims arrive from throughout Taiwan and overseas to participate. Various festival troupes also join in this marvelous event, including the eight general troupe, puppet god troupes, dragon and lion dance troupes, as well as all kinds of folk art performers. So many splendid performances ensure that there is no shortage of sights to keep people entertained.

Procession of art pavilions

Bombarding the Sedan Chair

Bei-Gang splendid night