[Video provided to gofujian.com.cn]

As the most influential goddess of the sea in China, Mazu is at the heart of a host of beliefs and customs throughout the country's coastal areas and countless Chinese communities worldwide.

The Mazu sacrificial ceremony, which contains a series of complex and unique ritual practices, is dubbed as one of the grandest worship ceremonies in China, together with the ritual worship in the Yellow Emperor's mausoleum and the sacrificial rite in the Confucian Temple.

The religion consists of numerous beliefs and customs, including oral traditions, religious ceremonies and folk practices. In 2009, Mazu beliefs and customs were inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

Mazu is worshipped on both sides of the Strait. The belief is widely shared in both Fujian and Taiwan, and Putian, Fujian province is believed to be the birthplace of the goddess. Statues of the goddess in Putian and Taiwan face each other across the Strait.