The annual procession of the sea goddess Matsu enshrined at Jenn Lann Temple (鎮瀾宮) in Taichung’s Dajia District (大甲) drew large crowds that filled the streets on the last leg of its nine-day journey yesterday.
The procession, which reached Fengtian Temple (奉天宮) in Chiayi’s Singang Township (新港) on Tuesday to celebrate Matsu’s birthday and began the return journey later that day, entered Taichung before sunrise on Saturday.
Tens of thousands of worshipers followed a palanquin carrying the sea goddess and other deities to seek their blessing before spending Saturday night in Cingshuei District (清水).
Local residents along the route offered free food to worshipers, and set off fireworks to greet Matsu.
Yesterday morning, the procession circled Cingshuei, and Matsu received representatives from temples in Taipei, Taoyuan, Taichung and Changhua County, with a heavy police presence ensuring that the crowd moved smoothly.
The procession arrived in Dajia in the afternoon, with worshipers lining up along Provincial Highway No. 1 to greet Matsu before returning to Jenn Lann Temple, where a welcoming ceremony was held to bring the deity back to her thrones.
In front of the temple, dragon and lion dancers, martial artists and cheerleaders performed, and parades of deities were held as part of the ceremony, while the temple was packed with visitors throughout the day.
Although the temple said it would not allow the traditional practice of worshipers crawling under the palanquin for Matsu’s blessing this year, citing COVID-19 prevention efforts, hundreds of people did so as the procession traveled through Dajia.
The procession, which travels about 340km from Taichung to Chiayi and back, was designated as national cultural heritage in 2011.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to