OVER 1,000 Mazu believers from Hong Kong, Dongguan, Huizhou, Guangzhou and other cities gathered at the Chiwan Tianhou Palace in Nanshan District to worship their goddess Saturday.

    A special ritual known as Cisha was held Saturday at the palace. Cisha, literally meaning “bidding farewell to the beach,” is a ritual exclusive to the Chiwan Tianhou Palace and has more than 500 years of history, the Chinese-language newspapers reported yesterday.

    In ancient times, Cisha ceremonies were held to ask the God of the Ocean to protect mariners in their journeys on the sea.

    As one of the most well-preserved Mazu rituals, Cisha is now held to mark the Mazu goddess’ merits, such as wisdom, beauty, kindness and bravery.

    Belief in Mazu has become a shared spiritual pillar for a large number of Chinese people all around the world. It is recorded that there are over 250 million Chinese people who are Mazu believers around the globe.

    The Chiwan Tianhou Palace was the largest Tianhou Palace in China, with 10 buildings and over 120 rooms, in its peak time. It is still one of the most reputed cultural heritages in Shenzhen and has been attracting Mazu believers from many countries and areas to visit every year.

    Thanks to the ritual of Cisha, the Chiwan Tianhou Palace has been elected as one of the 47 standing directors among over 5,000 Tianhou Palaces in the world.

    The palace has also been included as one of the cultural landmarks of the Belt and Road Initiative in Guangdong Pro-vince. A museum of the Maritime Silk Road will be constructed in Chiwan to tell the stories of Maritime Silk Road journeys and history.

    (Zhang Qian)