Dajia Matsu Pilgrimage to Chiayi county in 2011

Sorry, ANOTHER CORRECTION For Singang the days to visit are Monday and Tuesday - by Wednesday it will have moved on.
The events for the first day were correct but the stuff I wrote about for Tues&Wed. all happens on Tuesday.
CORRECTION I guess my own post was leaning to the terrible side**
NOT a Monday to Wednesday event as posted Secondly
NOT a Sunday to Tuesday as first posted.

I saw this question elsewhere online (but it was answered terribly)

When is the Matsu 8 Day Pilgrimage Held in Taiwan in 2011?
Every year there is a festival to honour Matsu the goddess of Fishermen in Taiwan.
There is a 8 day walk with thousands of people.
I want to join in during 2011.
So when exactly is it held???

Dajia Matsu arrival in Singang Township, Chiayi county -CORRECTION Monday April 11th, 2011**

Sorry I don’t know when it starts and ends in Dajia, Taichung county but I can tell you about Singang Township,Chiayi county. The Matsu idol arrives at the big temple in Singang Township,Chiayi county on CORRECTION Monday April 11th, 2011and then heads back to Dajia in Taichung county on
CORRECTION about 1am Wednesday April 13th, 2011
.

Matsu herself set the date by the tossing of blocks in her home temple. I have been a English teacher in Singang for 3 years and in past years the vehicle procession has arrived on a Monday at 3pm in 2009 and Monday at 5pm in 2010. I hope they get here a bit earlier in 2011 since the students at my school have Monday and Tuesday off school in 2011. In my previous 2 years my students have been off school Tuesday and Wednesday. The walkers start and arrive earlier in the day.

The vehicle procession arrives and snakes its way around the town and right up to the temple. Lots firecrackers, music and dragon /lion dancers at this time. Matsu is at the end of the Parade.(Not Santa!) Pick a place at the north end of town to watch the inbound parade because once the parade hits the temple the parade stops and everyone sits down on the street and has their dinner. This is a hour long lull in the festival. After Dinner the focus shifts to the big temple. Singang was built for the temple with a wide main street meeting the temple. The various groups in the temple parade do their own ceremony in front of the temple. 50mm fireworks are common but I’ve seen bigger and smaller. Firecrackers come in the loud or smokey variety. I find the horns and drums more appealing. Some bring pounding dance music. Each of the giant puppets does their own dance in front of the temple. It is late in the night before the Matsu enters the temple. Giant fireworks are saved for this. I once saw fireworks for 45minutes nonstop after the local Matsu idol entered the temple after her Chiayi county tour.(yes, it is crazy)

Day two - CORRECTION Tuesday April 12, 2011. At about 8 am all the faithful are lined up on the street kneeling before the temple. prayers are lead from the temple on loudspeaker. Many walkers leave town after the prayer service. (calm, peaceful, so different from the previous night )
After the prayers the whole town turns into a giant night market. Oddly, many local shops are closed for the festival but the added the street vendors are more than enough to feed and clothe everyone. More Fireworks and temple processions at night but not as much as the first night. I’ve been told late in the evening or past midnight the Matsu heads back to Taichung County.

Day three - CORRECTION Wednesday April 13, 2011. By the time Wednesday roles around just a few stragglers are left in town and the kids are all back in school.

Acommodations - local motels and homestays can’t hold all the pilgrims so the whole town is a big campgroud. Students at the local schools have 2 days off. You can set up a tent at any school or park. The ground floor covered walkways of my school fill up first since they are protected from the rain and sun. Many are drinking beer at the school or park , no problem. Vacant lots fill up with people in campers and vans also. The towns parking garage is also an option (park and camp). At the peak I saw cars parked 2km from the temple on the highway. Of course a scooter can get much closer. I’m sure it is not a problem to camp in Singang all weekend. CORRECTION not a weekend event as I previously posted. many come early.

Location - Singang is on hwy 159 (Beigang Road) between Chiayi city and Beigang. Hwy 159 is the Chiayi exit from the 1 superhighway. Central Singang (the big temple) is about 15km North-west of the Chiayi city train station. At the front of the train station you can buy a bus ticket to Singang for 46nt. Buses only run until about 10pm. You could rent a scooter if you dare. Taxi is about 350nt. (25min)
Central Singang (the big temple) is 6km East of the Beigang.
Central Singang (the big temple) is about 10km West of the Minhsiung train station but buses run less often.
High speed rail is about 10km South of Singang. It is about a 200nt taxi ride to Singang (15 min.) No scooter rental at HSR station. Sorry don’t know about buses from the HSR.

Checkout my pics via the links below.
This is something to see or I would not take the time to write this.
Any Saturday or Sunday in March or April has some kind of Temple Parade going on.
P.S. tell them “Teacher Gerry” sent you.

2010 pilgrimage pics link - facebook.com/album.php?aid=1 … c01435b27a
2009 pilgrimage pics link - facebook.com/album.php?aid=8 … 512393f2e5

Are you sure it’s arriving in Singang on the 10th? AFAIK, she leaves Dajia on the 9th which in reality means the early hours of the 10th.

The festival is supposed to run from the 8th to the 17th with her leaving at 11.05pm on the 8th (so into the morning of the 9th). These things always start on a weekend so that more people can attend. Yes, I know the goddess chooses the date but she only is given weekends as a choice (I’m not kidding).

Btw, yes, leo, It’s very confusing and I’ve been given the wrong info so many times including by the PR people working at the temples themselves.

My plan is to attend the first night this year and walk to Changhua where I’ll catch the train back.

Here’s the schedule (in Chinese):
dajiamazu.org.tw/news/news_m … t_id=00222

I’ll try to get an English version up soon.

2nd CORRECTION For Singang in Chiayi County this is a Monday to Tuesday event NOT Sunday to Tuesday as previously posted.
Because of the change in my school’s Matzu festival vacation from the normal Tuesday-Wednesday to this years Monday-Tuesday I assumed Matzu was coming on Sunday. Thanks for the correction.

So, it all starts tomorrow! The Taipei Times had a 2 page article on the event today: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2011/04/07/2003500101

Looks pretty hardcore. Good luck to anyone going.

more information here: http://mazu.touch-web.tw/index.php?REQUEST_ID=cGFnZT1lbg%3D%3D). A schedule is buried within…it doesn’t give any times but it does give a nice run down of the route

So does it start Friday or Saturday? It’s always been Saturday in the past with Mazu leaving Zhen Lan temple in the early hours of Sunday but I’ve seen a couple of things saying it’s Friday and the early hours of Sat.

Everything suggests Friday night including the fact the pilgrimage ends on the 17th, a Sunday. In the past the pilgrimage was 8 days now is 9 so it must start a day earlier.

That’s a bummer. A friend has already arranged a car rental for Saturday. We may have to photograph something else instead.

CHIAYI city and county are almost always spelled C-H-I-A-Y-I.
So when you are reading :
-highway signs,
-the city hall sign,
-city buses,
-hospitals,
-the train station sign,
-government produced maps you will see C-H-I-A-Y-I.

Don’t be confused with the highway exit to JIALI
just to the south in old Tainan county unless you’re looking for a good bowl of beef noodle soup.

[quote=“Mucha Man”]My plan is to attend the first night this year and walk to Zhanghua where I’ll catch the train back.
[/quote]

Is it really possible to get the train back to Taichung at 2 a.m.?

[quote=“trubadour”][quote=“Muzha Man”]My plan is to attend the first night this year and walk to Zhanghua where I’ll catch the train back.
[/quote]

Is it really possible to get the train back to Taichung at 2 a.m.?[/quote]

No, but it’s not possible to walk to Changhua in 2 hours either.

Another link for the festival: http://www.mazu.taichung.gov.tw/ The English section wasn’t opening for me, though.

Tonight is also the start of the Baosheng Temple festival in Taipei. Fireworks, opera, folk rituals, president Ma. :laughing: I am going to ride my bike out there as I was not able to get to Dajia last night. Forgot I had a guest staying and couldn’t well leave the person here alone. :laughing:

where are they going tonight?? i can’t find sinkong on google maps

found it: Singang Township, Taiwan