On the way of Dà-jiǎ Mā-zǔ Pilgrimage of 2019, we met a girl from Israel who told us how hard it is to find English information about how to prepare for this event. So here I am writing this article to share with you what I found might be helpful to get ready for the journey.
🌜 Take place every year inMarch of lunar calendar, which would be mostly around April of solar calendar (yep, the one that you always know as a calendar). The precise date and time to start will be decided byJanuary 15th of lunar calendar.
🎎 It is a tradition in Taiwan for deities topatrol an area on a palanquin, giving blessings and exorcising the evils. Anyone can follow as a pilgrim in order to pray for blessings, repay the kindness or avoid disasters, while helping and taking care of each others on the way.
⚓️ The pilgrimage starting from Dà-jiǎ, a small sea side town in the north of Tai-zhong city, is now considered to bethe biggest religious festival in Taiwan, with hundreds of thousands of people clustering aroundthe goddess of seafarers, Mā-zǔ.For more history & customs please refer to Taiwan Religious Scene web page.
⛺️ It is a journey of9 days and 8 nightsof hiking,visitingmore than 100shrines and temples, which have been lasting longer and longer due to the expectation of many more local shrines.
👟 The complete route is around343 km, starting from Zhèn-lán Temple in Dà-jiǎ in Tai-zhong city, through Zhāng-huà city, Shī-luó town, finally arrive to Fong-tien Temple in Shīn-gǎng, and head back all the way to Dà-jiǎ.
▲A pilgrim walking along with the parade from Zhèn-lán Temple in Dà-jiǎ
Close family of the deceased within 49 days and one who just gave birth of a baby within 30 days should not attend to any shrine or events including this Pilgrimage.
Make sure to wear clean clothes, and new clothes to zhù-shòu celebration on the 4th day.
During the Pilgrimage, no alcohol, no gambling, and sadly, no sex or flirting.
Mind your manners. No swear or foul language.
The category of being vegetarian in Taiwan is slightly different from the west. For example,eating fish absolutely doesn’t count as vegetarian. The local folklore religion had been influenced by Buddhism, therefore, during the fast, most of people will perform a strict religious type of “vegetarian”, which iseating not only no meat, but also no garlics and alliums(spices that considered to arouse desire for meat), while there’s no strict prohibition of eggs and dairy.
After the divination ceremony in the first full moon’s night of the year, January 15th of lunar calendar (aka. Spring Lantern Festival), you can find the schedule on the official website for Dà-jiǎ Ma-zu Pilgrimage.
(Update: For 2020, the journey will start on March 20 and until March 28 of solar calender. )
▲The GPS app that shows the instant location of Mazu's palanquin,
which is easy to understand even though still in Chinese.
Traditionally, followers walk along with her, but becasue the bearers carrying Mā-zǔ’s palanquin will take turns walking speedily, nowadays pathetic valetudinarians living in 21st century, like me, will mostly start up 3-6 hours earlier than her departure, otherwise it’s not as easy to catch up with her.
Usually she departs late in the night from Zhèn-lán Temple(鎮瀾宮) on the first day, so earlier in the afternoon, you may take a train to Dà-jiǎ(大甲) train station and walk to the temple in 5 minutes.
To prepare for this long trip, you must first think about how you’re going to accomplish it:
by hiking
Originally, everyone walks.
Yet, the most traditional way may be simply walking, withnothing. Amazingly, you may still find several cool elders traveling just like this, every year, since decades ago.
However, I prefer to travel with sufficient material assistance, including:
◻️light jacket (for overnight walk at a temperature of 16~20°C
◻️base layers for hiking x 2-3 sets
◻️hiking socks x 3-5 pairs
◻️comfortable sandals
◻️towel
◻️toiletries
◻️pocket tissue x3
◻️personal medicine and first-aid items
◻️sunscreen, bug spray
◻️basic sewing kit
◻️hangers, or just a string and some clothespin will do
◻️phone, charger, adapter, portable charger
◻️flashlight, taillight for night walks
◻️water bottle, my camping tableware
◻️a tiny piece of sponge, a small can of baking soda
◻️A comfortable backpack that can fit in all items above(mine is 35L) & a rain cover
▼My perfect sleeping system includes:
A nice sleeping pad providing a soft, heat and cold insulated bed. Sleeping bag not only in case the temperature drops to 15ºC in the night but also to protect you from mosquitos. Tubular bandana that I used as a protection from sunlight, mosquitos, air pollution and as an eye cover when resting under lights. yes, just like this:
▼As a protection from the heat and rain, you'll see many people wearing Taiwan style bamboo leaf hat , because it's the best.
▼I recommend thick merino wool socks, to make your feet invulnerable to blisters, sweat and odor.
▼When raining or having blisters on your toes, change into sandals with thick bottom, arch support, design for comfort and durability, in other words, made in Taiwan.
▼To prevent blisters in advance, bring a medical tape to bandage your foot once you feel any spot burning.
▼Usually I take shower and wash clothes whenever I reach somewhere to sleep more than 6 hours. With a string and some clothespins, I'd hang them on railings by somewhere I sleep, or on my backpack to dry while walking in the sun.
▼Phone charging services may be found in a few shrines or booths. Sockets in Taiwan are type A with a standard voltage of 110 V.
▼Foods here are mostly prepared in disposable tableware that cannot be recycled at all, which lead this biggest Pilgrimage to the most wasting event on the island. Thus I decided to go for a no impact trip with my camping tablewares. Since you can easily find a sink in a temple, what I do is bringing a small can of baking soda to wash my tableware and clothes everyday.
Anything to add or remove is up to you, but be sure to try put them all on your shoulder to see if you can bear the weight for long time hiking.
Moreover, many people uses wagon instead of carrying everything on their back, to make room for more needments while reducing the aches from trudging over a long distance.
▲You can even find some wagons specially designed for the Pilgrimage with huge capacity, light weight, ergonomic handle height and 360º free and easy turning from online shops.
by bicycle or even by scooter
Lately more and more decide to catch up with Mā-zǔ by other means such as bicycle or scooter. Some even drive a car there, with a message on their windows like “feel free to get on when you need some rest”, to offer seats for strangers in need.
If you’d like to adopt measures other than hiking, please also consider the possible limitations when parking or entering a crowded downtown area.
It is a flag with embroidery of a dragon, as a sign of Mā-zǔ’s pilgrims who will be protected by her troops. You can buy the flag at the starting point, Zhèn-lán Temple(鎮瀾宮) with 300 TWD. Remember to greet with Mā-zǔ back in the middle of the shrine, telling her that you’re going for the Pilgrimage, and write down your name and address on the flag.
There are couple ofthings to do before you goandwhen you visit other temples on the wayof the Pilgrimage:
Seal your flag with thebig square stampof the temple
Geta yellow good luck charm paperto tide above the flag.
Take the flag to hover above the hugeincense burnerby the middle door for 3 circles clockwise, and the one back in the middle of the shrine for 3 circles again.
If you are not sure what you’re doing, just watch or ask others holding the flags.
You might want to go to Zhèn-lán Temple earlier to avoid the crowds of millions. On the last day returning to Zhèn-lán Temple, greet again with Mā-zǔ to let her know that you’re back. After that you’re welcome to take the flag home with you, but make sure do not put it in the bedroom or restroom, as a respect for her troops.
▲ The middle door of a shrine is for the deities. So when entering a shrine, use doors on the left hand side, and leave by the doors on the right hand side.
The left is called “dragon’s side”, and the right is called “tiger’s side”. The dragon’s job is to refresh your soul so that you can have better connections with the deities, and the tiger is to bless you from all evils so the misfortune will fall behind you when you walk out from the door.
Even though this sounds kind of superficial, one of the most exiting feature is all thefree foodson the way.
Everything is provided voluntarily either by local people, companies or shrines. And it’s not only about us not to worry over supplements on the way.
Just for the record, Taiwan is a popular spot for delicious Asian cuisine. In fact, FOOD is the main reason that this developing island is attracting millions of visitors from Japan and Hong Kong every year. As one of the pilgrim, you’ll be under attack of tons and tons of traditional Taiwanese cuisine, drinks and snacks, such as fried noodle, vermicelli, sticky rice, wheel pies, flaky pancake, shaved ice and bubble milk tea.
These towns on the Pilgrimage route also happen to be famous for fruits. Watermelons, muskmelons, grapes, pineapples, guavas, wax apples, bananas, cherry tomatoes…everything offered for Mā-zǔ’s pilgrims by the locals are all of the best quality.
Well, I shouldn’t make it the main purpose for you to go for a pilgrimage, but after an 8 hour walk under the scorching sun, the hospitality does mean a lot to refresh and keep us going.
▲One feature of this island is all kinds of delicious fruits from the temperate to tropical zone.
The pilgrimage give you a chance to try them all, including this sweet juicy wax apple.
Vegetarian and Vegan-friendly
The free foods prepared would be also “Buddhism vegetarian” for the first 3 days of the Pilgrimage until zhùshòu celebration in Shīn-gǎng on the 4th day. After that, you can find foods for both carnivore and vegetarian on the streets.
Although the dairy products are not definitely prohibited for Buddhism vegetarian, they are not really common to use in Taiwanese cuisine. Instead, we uses a variety of soy products such as tofu, fried tofu, dried tofu, fermented tofu, bean curd sheet and soy milk. Dishes that contains eggs would be also very obviously eggs and thus avoidable. So if you’re vegan, Dà-jiǎ Mā-zǔ Pilgrimage is probably going to be the best journey for you in the world to get yourself fed.
▲You'll be surprised how creative a vegan menu can be in a temple.
Tap-water is not drinkable in Taiwan(we’re working on it though), so you will find many booths providing bottled water. But for those who aren’t really a fan of bottled water: almost every temples and bigger shrines (those with five doors or more in the front) would havea water dispenser at the side or hallway. That is why temples are also my best supply spots when cycling around Taiwan, as well as police stations and train stations.
Nevertheless, many locals prepared by their doors a huge tank of tea or “plumade" for pilgrims, which is considered to be a useful cure to prevent heat stroke.
▲The sour tea made of plum is definitely refreshing after hiking in the sun.
Almost all thetemples or bigger shrineshas toilets, and so as some7-11,family marts,gas station,police stationortrain station.
Companies and factories having booths built up for pilgrims to rest usually offer their toilet for use. On the most crowded sites, you can also find manyportable restrooms.
But most of public toilet provides no toilet paper.
And please note that Taiwan is only recently starting to upgrade the sewage system for flushing down tissues (yeah, we’re working on this, too), so if you see no signs written, instead of flushing tissues into the toilet, put them into the trash bin by the toilet.
The pilgrimage flag should not be brought into toilets with you. You may ask other pilgrims to keep an eye on it for you.
Although you may book hostels/hotels/B&Bs along the way for each day, but what I find absolutely precious in the Pilgrimage is a chance to travel like a monk in ancient times.
First of all,all shrines and temples on the routeopen up their floors during the Pilgrimage for everyone who needs a rest. Yes! you can simply just walk in and lie down in any spot not blocking the way.
Furthermore, bigger temples tend to have its own “pilgrim’s building”(香客大樓). Some are free for staying or taking donation of voluntarism, and some may charge 100~500 TWD depending on the facilities.
If you are at the main temple of a village, thecommunity centermay be just nearby, and offer their indoor space as well.
Theelementary schoolsclose by may also open up their playing-fields for camping.
When you’re exhausted late in the night, you can even lie down ona paved sidewalk under buildings, but if it’s by someone’s door, better to ask for permission.
In short, you can sleepbasically anywherewithout booking anything in advance as long as you’re cool with it. Actually, when I just wander around temples, many strangers come to tell me where there’s still space for resting. Sharing of information and everything is just natural among all pilgrims regardless of status or relation.
wherever you find in the end, there’s only one thing to be worried: the mosquitos. If you’re not traveling with a mosquito net or inner tent, it’s better to cover yourself with a sleeping bag or clothes.
According to the detail schedule published by the organizer, the resting time for Mā-zǔ’s palanquin is only 1-3 hours per day, but since you can move on earlier and arrive earlier, it’s easy to manage for a good sleep.
▲Pilgrims just lie down in the corners around the temple.
2. In thepilgrim’s buildings/community centersnearby big temples
3. SomeB&B/hostelsmight offer showers for 100~200 TWD
4. Swimming pool. Although it takes extra walks from the route, but it’s pretty relaxing and costs only 100~200 TWD (if you bring a bathing suit with you for SPA).
During the Pilgrimage, you can find the medical crew following the parade, as well as several first-aid booths near some temples sponsored by local hospitals. Feel free to ask them when you need help. They even offer to remove and bandage your blisters.
Pickpockets
Mind your personal belongings.
Traffic
The route includes highways without sidewalks, which means there would be scooters running by just 10 inches away from you. Therefore, always watch out for your back whenever you’re stoping or turning, and especially remember to put a taillight on your backpack and make sure it’s turned on when walking in the night.
▲The pilgrimage route takes mostly tarred road, sometimes even highway.
Firecrackers
There’s a tradition to put firecrackers on the side of the road and light them up right before Mā-zǔ’s palanquin coming. It is believed that the longer people can stopped the palanquin in front of their door, the more blessings they can earn from Mā-zǔ. That’s why the firecrackers can be more than 10 meters long or in many fancy shooting forms. So be aware if you’re walking right in front of Mā-zǔ’s palanquin and dodge quickly when someone’s yelling “beh pàng phàu-á” (firecrackers are lighten up).
▲The canon style firecrackers by the roads.
Why snatching at the palanquin?
One more thing happening every year is literally “fighting” for the palanquin.
It started as a good will, when the original carriers of the palanquin arrive in one place and let the local carriers take over to go around the town for all villagers to see and worship. Yet, as more and more villages around Zhāng-huà city craving for Mā-zǔ’s blessing, and most of the carrier teams are made up of local gangsters, it gradually turn into violent group scuffle implying a proof of power.
But good news is that it usually happens only when Mā-zǔ’s palanquin enteringZhāng-huà city, especially between Zhāng-huàrailway underpassandYǒng-lè night market, so it’s easy to avoid it by walking a couple of hours earlier away from the palanquin when passing Zhāng-huà city.
Whenever Mā-zǔ’s palanquin arrive in a town, you’ll see people waiting on the street in a column of twos. If you’d like to, you may join them to prostrate, letting Mā-zǔ’s palanquin going above you. The origin of this custom is said to devote oneself as Ma-zu's foot bench in order to repay her kindness making your prayers come true, while now it is believed to bless you and keep you safe.
But make sure youDO NOTprostrate under the palanquin when you are…
pregnant (It is said that the spirit of anembryo might be harmed by the Eight Trigrams under the palanquin, but in reality, pushing and jostling in the crowds are definitely dangerous anyway)
wearing hat, mask or backpack (as a respect and for safety concerns)
taking the pilgrimage flag or good luck charms with you (not bringing any deities to prostrate under another deity as a respect to those sent to protect you)
trying to get up or touch the palanquin (unless you want to get your cervical vertebra cracked and killed on the spot)
▲Prostrating under the palanquin would be the most popular and crowded scene during the pilgrimage.
These are the genuine advices and informations and I hope they can be of some help. Wish you good luck and have a good time exploring this amazing journey.
If you have any question or find any part confusing, leaving a comment below will be appreciated.
On the way of Dà-jiǎ Mā-zǔ Pilgrimage of 2019, we met a girl from Israel who told us how hard it is to find English information about how to prepare for this event. So here I am writing this article to share with you what I found might be helpful to get ready for the journey.
🌜 Take place every year inMarch of lunar calendar, which would be mostly around April of solar calendar (yep, the one that you always know as a calendar). The precise date and time to start will be decided byJanuary 15th of lunar calendar.
🎎 It is a tradition in Taiwan for deities topatrol an area on a palanquin, giving blessings and exorcising the evils. Anyone can follow as a pilgrim in order to pray for blessings, repay the kindness or avoid disasters, while helping and taking care of each others on the way.
⚓️ The pilgrimage starting from Dà-jiǎ, a small sea side town in the north of Tai-zhong city, is now considered to bethe biggest religious festival in Taiwan, with hundreds of thousands of people clustering aroundthe goddess of seafarers, Mā-zǔ.For more history & customs please refer to Taiwan Religious Scene web page.
⛺️ It is a journey of9 days and 8 nightsof hiking,visitingmore than 100shrines and temples, which have been lasting longer and longer due to the expectation of many more local shrines.
👟 The complete route is around343 km, starting from Zhèn-lán Temple in Dà-jiǎ in Tai-zhong city, through Zhāng-huà city, Shī-luó town, finally arrive to Fong-tien Temple in Shīn-gǎng, and head back all the way to Dà-jiǎ.
Close family of the deceased within 49 days and one who just gave birth of a baby within 30 days should not attend to any shrine or events including this Pilgrimage.
Make sure to wear clean clothes, and new clothes to zhù-shòu celebration on the 4th day.
During the Pilgrimage, no alcohol, no gambling, and sadly, no sex or flirting.
Mind your manners. No swear or foul language.
The category of being vegetarian in Taiwan is slightly different from the west. For example,eating fish absolutely doesn’t count as vegetarian. The local folklore religion had been influenced by Buddhism, therefore, during the fast, most of people will perform a strict religious type of “vegetarian”, which iseating not only no meat, but also no garlics and alliums(spices that considered to arouse desire for meat), while there’s no strict prohibition of eggs and dairy.
After the divination ceremony in the first full moon’s night of the year, January 15th of lunar calendar (aka. Spring Lantern Festival), you can find the schedule on the official website for Dà-jiǎ Ma-zu Pilgrimage. (Update: For 2020, the journey will start on March 20 and until March 28 of solar calender. )
▲大甲媽祖遶境GPS即時定位App
The GPS app that shows the instant location of Mazu's palanquin,
which is easy to understand even though still in Chinese.
Traditionally, followers walk along with her, but becasue the bearers carrying Mā-zǔ’s palanquin will take turns walking speedily, nowadays pathetic valetudinarians living in 21st century, like me, will mostly start up 3-6 hours earlier than her departure, otherwise it’s not as easy to catch up with her.
Usually she departs late in the night from Zhèn-lán Temple(鎮瀾宮) on the first day, so earlier in the afternoon, you may take a train to Dà-jiǎ(大甲) train station and walk to the temple in 5 minutes.
To prepare for this long trip, you must first think about how you’re going to accomplish it:
準備行李前,先想好,你打算如何完成9天8夜343公里的遶境?
by hiking 徒步行進
Originally, everyone walks.
Yet, the most traditional way may be simply walking, withnothing. Amazingly, you may still find several cool elders traveling just like this, every year, since decades ago.
However, I prefer to travel with sufficient material assistance, including:
◻️flashlight, taillight for night walks 夜行用的頭燈 / 手電筒、背後掛的紅色LED警示燈
◻️water bottle, my camping tableware 水壺、碗、筷
◻️a tiny piece of sponge, a small can of baking soda 一小片海綿、 一小罐清潔用小蘇打粉(可洗餐具和衣物)
◻️A comfortable backpack that can fit in all items above(mine is 35L) & a rain cover 裝得下以上物品(大約需要35~40升)、有背負系統的中型背包、防水套
My perfect sleeping system includes:
A nice sleeping pad providing a soft, heat and cold insulated bed. Sleeping bag not only in case the temperature drops to 15ºC in the night but also to protect you from mosquitos. Tubular bandana that I used as a protection from sunlight, mosquitos, air pollution and as an eye cover when resting under lights. 我的睡眠系統包括:
柔軟舒適、隔絕燒燙或冰冷地面的睡墊。 睡袋除了夜裡保暖之外,還有防蚊子叮這個重要功能。當然不嫌重你也可以帶帳篷或蚊帳。
平常登山和騎單車時用的魔術頭巾,充當白天防曬、晚上防蚊的面罩、防風防空污的口罩,以及睡覺時的眼罩。 yes, just like this:
就像這樣(不要笑)
As a protection from the heat and rain, you'll see many people wearing Taiwan style bamboo leaf hat , because it's the best.
全方位防曬防雨絕對是斗笠最強。
I recommend thick merino wool socks, to make your feet invulnerable to blisters, sweat and odor. 最推薦超厚的羊毛襪,完美防止水泡又可以吸汗防臭(連穿3天不洗也沒問題)
When raining or having blisters on your toes, change into sandals with thick bottom, arch support, design for comfort and durability, in other words, made in Taiwan. 下雨天或鞋子磨腳時可以立刻換上拖鞋。為長途行走,請選擇底部加厚、足弓支撐、耐用舒適,最好就是台灣製造啦。
To prevent blisters in advance, bring a medical tape to bandage your foot once you feel any spot burning. 只要腳底有一點點灼熱感就要立刻脫鞋子貼上透氣膠帶,避免水泡形成。
Usually I take shower and wash clothes when I'm going to sleep more than 6 hours. With a string and some clothespins, I'd hang them on railings by somewhere I sleep, or on my backpack to dry while walking in the sun. 我會在能睡超過6小時的地方洗衣服,曬衣繩和夾子綁在欄杆晾乾。晾不乾就掛在背包上邊走邊晾。
Phone charging services may be found in a few shrines or booths. Sockets in Taiwan are type A with a standard voltage of 110 V. 有一些廟宇、香客大樓、商家提供的休息處,以及中華電信的攤位會提供充電服務。
Foods here are mostly prepared in disposable tableware that cannot be recycled at all, which lead this biggest Pilgrimage to the most wasting event on the island. Thus I decided to go for a no impact trip with my camping tablewares. Since you can easily find a sink in a temple, what I do is bringing a small can of baking soda to wash my tableware and clothes everyday.
Anything to add or remove is up to you, but be sure to try put them all on your shoulder to see if you can bear the weight for long time hiking.
Moreover, many people uses wagon instead of carrying everything on their back, to make room for more needments while reducing the aches from trudging over a long distance.
▲You can even find some wagons specially designed for the Pilgrimage with huge capacity, light weight, ergonomic handle height and 360º free and easy turning from online shops.
市面上還有販售超大容量輕巧四輪360度自由轉彎人體工學免彎腰遶境專用菜籃車。
by bicycle or even by scooter 騎腳踏車或機車
Lately more and more decide to catch up with Mā-zǔ by other means such as bicycle or scooter. Some even drive a car there, with a message on their windows like “feel free to get on when you need some rest”, to offer seats for strangers in need.
If you’d like to adopt measures other than hiking, please also consider the possible limitations when parking or entering a crowded downtown area.
It is a flag with embroidery of a dragon, as a sign of Mā-zǔ’s pilgrims who will be protected by her troops. You can buy the flag at the starting point, Zhèn-lán Temple(鎮瀾宮) with 300 TWD. Remember to greet with Mā-zǔ back in the middle of the shrine, telling her that you’re going for the Pilgrimage, and write down your name and address on the flag.
There are couple ofthings to do before you goandwhen you visit other temples on the wayof the Pilgrimage:
Seal your flag with thebig square stampof the temple
Geta yellow good luck charm paperto tide above the flag.
Take the flag to hover above the hugeincense burnerby the middle door for 3 circles clockwise, and the one back in the middle of the shrine for 3 circles again.
If you are not sure what you’re doing, just watch or ask others holding the flags.
You might want to go to Zhèn-lán Temple earlier to avoid the crowds of millions. On the last day returning to Zhèn-lán Temple, greet again with Mā-zǔ to let her know that you’re back. After that you’re welcome to take the flag home with you, but make sure do not put it in the bedroom or restroom, as a respect for her troops.
▲ The middle door of a shrine is for the deities. So when entering a shrine, use doors on the left hand side, and leave by the doors on the right hand side.
The left is called “dragon’s side”, and the right is called “tiger’s side”. The dragon’s job is to refresh your soul so that you can have better connections with the deities, and the tiger is to bless you from all evils so the misfortune will fall behind you when you walk out from the door.
Even though this sounds kind of superficial, one of the most exiting feature is all thefree foodson the way.
Everything is provided voluntarily either by local people, companies or shrines. And it’s not only about us not to worry over supplements on the way.
Just for the record, Taiwan is a popular spot for delicious Asian cuisine. In fact, FOOD is the main reason that this developing island is attracting millions of visitors from Japan and Hong Kong every year. As one of the pilgrim, you’ll be under attack of tons and tons of traditional Taiwanese cuisine, drinks and snacks, such as fried noodle, vermicelli, sticky rice, wheel pies, flaky pancake, shaved ice and bubble milk tea.
These towns on the Pilgrimage route also happen to be famous for fruits. Watermelons, muskmelons, grapes, pineapples, guavas, wax apples, bananas, cherry tomatoes…everything offered for Mā-zǔ’s pilgrims by the locals are all of the best quality.
Well, I shouldn’t make it the main purpose for you to go for a pilgrimage, but after an 8 hour walk under the scorching sun, the hospitality does mean a lot to refresh and keep us going.
▲One feature of this island is all kinds of delicious fruits from the temperate to tropical zone.
The pilgrimage give you a chance to try them all, including this sweet juicy wax apple.
Vegetarian and Vegan-friendly 素食者友善
The free foods prepared would be also “Buddhism vegetarian” for the first 3 days of the Pilgrimage until zhùshòu celebration in Shīn-gǎng on the 4th day. After that, you can find foods for both carnivore and vegetarian on the streets.
Although the dairy products are not definitely prohibited for Buddhism vegetarian, they are not really common to use in Taiwanese cuisine. Instead, we uses a variety of soy products such as tofu, fried tofu, dried tofu, fermented tofu, bean curd sheet and soy milk. Dishes that contains eggs would be also very obviously eggs and thus avoidable. So if you’re vegan, Dà-jiǎ Mā-zǔ Pilgrimage is probably going to be the best journey for you in the world to get yourself fed.
Tap-water is not drinkable in Taiwan(we’re working on it though), so you will find many booths providing bottled water. But for those who aren’t really a fan of bottled water: almost every temples and bigger shrines (those with five doors or more in the front) would havea water dispenser at the side or hallway. That is why temples are also my best supply spots when cycling around Taiwan, as well as police stations and train stations.
Nevertheless, many locals prepared by their doors a huge tank of tea or “plumade" for pilgrims, which is considered to be a useful cure to prevent heat stroke.
Almost all thetemples or bigger shrineshas toilets, and so as some7-11,family marts,gas station,police stationortrain station.
Companies and factories having booths built up for pilgrims to rest usually offer their toilet for use. On the most crowded sites, you can also find manyportable restrooms.
But most of public toilet provides no toilet paper.
And please note that Taiwan is only recently starting to upgrade the sewage system for flushing down tissues (yeah, we’re working on this, too), so if you see no signs written, instead of flushing tissues into the toilet, put them into the trash bin by the toilet.
The pilgrimage flag should not be brought into toilets with you. You may ask other pilgrims to keep an eye on it for you.
Although you may book hostels/hotels/B&Bs along the way for each day, but what I find absolutely precious in the Pilgrimage is a chance to travel like a monk in ancient times.
First of all,all shrines and temples on the routeopen up their floors during the Pilgrimage for everyone who needs a rest. Yes! you can simply just walk in and lie down in any spot not blocking the way.
Furthermore, bigger temples tend to have its own “pilgrim’s building”(香客大樓). Some are free for staying or taking donation of voluntarism, and some may charge 100~500 TWD depending on the facilities.
If you are at the main temple of a village, thecommunity centermay be just nearby, and offer their indoor space as well.
Theelementary schoolsclose by may also open up their playing-fields for camping.
When you’re exhausted late in the night, you can even lie down ona paved sidewalk under buildings, but if it’s by someone’s door, better to ask for permission.
In short, you can sleepbasically anywherewithout booking anything in advance as long as you’re cool with it. Actually, when I just wander around temples, many strangers come to tell me where there’s still space for resting. Sharing of information and everything is just natural among all pilgrims regardless of status or relation.
wherever you find in the end, there’s only one thing to be worried: the mosquitos. If you’re not traveling with a mosquito net or inner tent, it’s better to cover yourself with a sleeping bag or clothes.
According to the detail schedule published by the organizer, the resting time for Mā-zǔ’s palanquin is only 1-3 hours per day, but since you can move on earlier and arrive earlier, it’s easy to manage for a good sleep.
▲凌晨,在廟堂內外睡成一團的香燈腳們
Pilgrims just lie down in the corners around the temple.
2. In thepilgrim’s buildings/community centersnearby big temples
3. SomeB&B/hostelsmight offer showers for 100~200 TWD
4. Swimming pool. Although it takes extra walks from the route, but it’s pretty relaxing and costs only 100~200 TWD (if you bring a bathing suit with you for SPA).
During the Pilgrimage, you can find the medical crew following the parade, as well as several first-aid booths near some temples sponsored by local hospitals. Feel free to ask them when you need help. They even offer to remove and bandage your blisters.
The route includes highways without sidewalks, which means there would be scooters running by just 10 inches away from you. Therefore, always watch out for your back whenever you’re stoping or turning, and especially remember to put a taillight on your backpack and make sure it’s turned on when walking in the night.
▲The pilgrimage route takes mostly tarred road, sometimes even highway.
Firecrackers 鞭炮
There’s a tradition to put firecrackers on the side of the road and light them up right before Mā-zǔ’s palanquin coming. It is believed that the longer people can stopped the palanquin in front of their door, the more blessings they can earn from Mā-zǔ. That’s why the firecrackers can be more than 10 meters long or in many fancy shooting forms. So be aware if you’re walking right in front of Mā-zǔ’s palanquin and dodge quickly when someone’s yelling “beh pàng phàu-á” (firecrackers are lighten up).
▲路邊的盒式沖天炮
The canon style firecrackers by the roads.
Why snatching at the palanquin? 搶轎是在幹嘛?
One more thing happening every year is literally “fighting” for the palanquin.
It started as a good will, when the original carriers of the palanquin arrive in one place and let the local carriers take over to go around the town for all villagers to see and worship. Yet, as more and more villages around Zhāng-huà city craving for Mā-zǔ’s blessing, and most of the carrier teams are made up of local gangsters, it gradually turn into violent group scuffle implying a proof of power.
But good news is that it usually happens only when Mā-zǔ’s palanquin enteringZhāng-huà city, especially between Zhāng-huàrailway underpassandYǒng-lè night market, so it’s easy to avoid it by walking a couple of hours earlier away from the palanquin when passing Zhāng-huà city.
Whenever Mā-zǔ’s palanquin arrive in a town, you’ll see people waiting on the street in a column of twos. If you’d like to, you may join them to prostrate, letting Mā-zǔ’s palanquin going above you. The origin of this custom is said to devote oneself as Ma-zu's foot bench in order to repay her kindness making your prayers come true, while now it is believed to bless you and keep you safe.
But make sure youDO NOTprostrate under the palanquin when you are…
pregnant (It is said that the spirit of anembryo might be harmed by the Eight Trigrams under the palanquin, but in reality, pushing and jostling in the crowds are definitely dangerous anyway)
wearing hat, mask or backpack (as a respect and for safety concerns)
taking the pilgrimage flag or good luck charms with you (not bringing any deities to prostrate under another deity as a respect to those sent to protect you)
trying to get up or touch the palanquin (unless you want to get your cervical vertebra cracked and killed on the spot)
▲Prostrating under the palanquin would be the most popular and crowded scene during the pilgrimage.
These are the genuine advices and informations and I hope they can be of some help. Wish you good luck and have a good time exploring this amazing journey.
If you have any question or find any part confusing, leaving a comment below will be appreciated.
One who finds the content's of someone else's mind to be their most attractive attribute, above and before their physical characteristics. From the Latin root "sapien", meaning wise. The term is now becoming mainstream with dating apps such as OkCupid and Sapio giving users the ability to define their sexual orientations as "Sapiosexual."
For many, defining oneself as Sapiosexual is also a statement against the current status quo of hookup culture and superficiality, where looks are prized above all else.
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