有花生醬玩什麼都刺激

A Guide to

Dà-jiǎ Mā-zǔ Pilgrimage

in Taiwan  
 

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.  

▲The parade of Mazu waiting to set off

5 Things to know about Dà-jiǎ Mā-zǔ Pilgrimage
 

1. 　🌜 
   Take place every year in March 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 by January 15th of lunar calendar.
    
2. 　🎎
   It is a tradition in Taiwan for deities to patrol 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.
    
3. 　⚓️ 
   The pilgrimage starting from Dà-jiǎ, a small sea side town in the north of Tai-zhong city, is now considered to be the biggest religious festival in Taiwan, with hundreds of thousands of people clustering around the goddess of seafarers, Mā-zǔ.  For more history & customs please refer to Taiwan Religious Scene web page.
    
4. 　⛺️
   It is a journey of 9 days and 8 nights of hiking, visiting more than 100 shrines and temples, which have been lasting longer and longer due to the expectation of many more local shrines.
    
5. 　👟
   The complete route is around 343 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

Before you start off

Rules & Taboos

Basically all these mean to present yourself “cleanly” in front of the deities as a respect.

1. Practice “vegetarian fast” 3 days before you start up.
2. 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.
3. Make sure to wear clean clothes, and new clothes to zhù-shòu celebration on the 4th day. 
4. During the Pilgrimage, no alcohol, no gambling, and sadly, no sex or flirting. 
5. 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 is eating 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.
   

When to start & Where to go 

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. )

However, since all informations are in Chinese anyway, I will recommend you to download the official GPS App or check 👑this webpage that shows Ma-zu’s track and location of each days for better understanding.
 

▲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.  

▲ 👑webpage that shows Ma-zu’s track and location of each days

What to bring

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, with nothing.  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:

Packing List

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.

The Pilgrimage Flag

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 of things to do before you go and when you visit other temples on the way of the Pilgrimage:

1. Go inside the temple, greet with the deities (pray for your wishes).
2. Seal your flag with the big square stamp of the temple
3. Get a yellow good luck charm paper to tide above the flag.
4. Take the flag to hover above the huge incense burner by 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.

Knowing the weather

The average temperature would be 25ºC~30ºC in the day time, and15ºC~20ºC in the night time.

Although this middle-west part has been the most sunny and least humid area in Taiwan, it is still a rainy season of spring.  

Food 

Even though this sounds kind of superficial, one of the most exiting feature is all the free foods on 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.

Water

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 have a 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.

Toilet

Almost all the temples or bigger shrines has toilets, and so as some 7-11, family marts, gas station, police station or train 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 many portable 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.

Sleeping

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.

1. First of all, all shrines and temples on the route open 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.
2. 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.
3. If you are at the main temple of a village, the community center may be just nearby, and offer their indoor space as well.
4. The elementary schools close by may also open up their playing-fields for camping.
5. When you’re exhausted late in the night, you can even lie down on a paved sidewalk under buildings, but if it’s by someone’s door, better to ask for permission.

In short, you can sleep basically anywhere without 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.

Showers 

Here are some places to look for shower rooms:

1. Portable shower rooms set up by the organizer

2. In the pilgrim’s buildings / community centers nearby big temples

3. Some B&B / hostels might 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).

Take a break 

When you're exhausted, you can

1. sit down at supplement spots or, just anywhere.

2. get on a service truck run by volunteers to take anyone in need to the next temple or shrine.

Sure It’s nice to challenge but there’s no need to force yourself when you don’t feel right.

Besides, one of the advantages not booking any place to stay is that you can rest anywhere anytime you want.  No rush.

Safety

Medication

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 entering Zhāng-huà city, especially between Zhāng-huà railway underpass and Yǒng-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.

▲ It's mostly peaceful outside of Zhāng-huà city

Prostrate under the palanquin

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 you DO NOT prostrate under the palanquin when you are…

• pregnant (It is said that the spirit of an embryo 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.

p.s.  Useful words

These are words that may be helpful when you try to ask people or copy & paste to search on google maps.

The scheduled stops
click on the temple's name to view on google map