Tianfei Hometown Ruins Park

Tianfei Hometown Ruins Park

Tianfei Hometown Ruins Park is a cultural tourism attraction.

Tianfei Hometown Ruins Park is located in the northern part of Meizhou Island, adjacent to the Mazu Ancestral Temple scenic area. The park is planned to include sections such as the Hometown Ruins Area, Ancestral Worship and Sacrificial Area, Cliff Carving Scenic Area, Auspicious Culture Area, and Folk Custom Area. Currently, the park has completed landscape facilities including a grand memorial archway, Pan Gui Pavilion, Ping’an Tower, and the Mazu Culture Origins Museum, which preserves many significant cultural relics related to Mazu. This attraction combines Mazu culture, natural landscapes, and garden art, immersing visitors in what feels like a vast hall of humanistic and artistic heritage.

1. Mazu Story Relief Wall

The relief wall is a stone structure facing the large southeastern memorial archway. It features nine Mazu legend stories carved in relief: the Birth of the Dragon Girl Illuminating Heaven and Earth with Fragrance, the Immortal Elder Blessing at the Ancient Well, Subduing the Sea Monster with Charms and Throwing Cups, Saving Merchant Ships by Blowing Straw into Trees, Burning Her Own House to Guide Foreign Ships, Praying to Heaven to End a Drought, Healing Plague with Sacred Talismans in Putian, Ascending to Heaven on Auspicious Clouds, and Cultivating the Island and Planting Vegetables for the People. These mainly depict Mazu’s deeds of “protecting the nation and blessing the people, bestowing grace across the four seas.” The figures in the reliefs are vivid, making visitors feel as if they are engaging in a dialogue across time and history.

2. Ping’an Tower

Ping’an Tower is a pavilion-style tower, 48 meters tall with nine levels, symbolizing Mazu’s status as the Holy Mother of the Nine Heavens. With a total investment of nearly 10 million RMB, it was completed in October 2012. The base of the tower is carved with scenes depicting various Mazu folk customs on Meizhou Island, such as New Year greetings, sending off sailors with blessings, celebrating birthdays, holding grand birthday ceremonies, fishing bans, wearing ceremonial hair ornaments, carrying stoves on shoulders, eating fried beans and old beans, removing straw sandals, holding the “Ten” ceremony, women exchanging flowers, making red dumplings, carrying tiger eggs, and eating longevity noodles. The tower is equipped with an observation elevator, and visitors can also climb to the top via the stairs built along the tower to enjoy panoramic views of the vast blue sea and the sacred scenery of Meizhou. Since ancient times, towers have symbolized warding off evil and praying for peace. Mazu Ping’an Tower carries people’s heartfelt wishes, hoping that everyone will be safe and blessed under Mazu’s protection.

3. Mazu Origins Museum

The Mazu Origins Museum is located in Dongcai Shanglin Natural Village on Meizhou Island and is one of the main structures of Tianfei Hometown Ruins Park. It opened in January 2013. The museum fully restores and displays the historical origins of Mazu’s birth on Meizhou Island. The museum consists of one lobby and six themed exhibition halls. The six halls are themed: “Birth and Acts of Kindness,” “Saving the Sea and Ascension,” “Miracles and Imperial Honors,” “Cross-Strait Bonds,” “Mazu Worship Ceremony,” and “Worshiped Across the Four Seas.” Using high-tech methods such as sound, light, electricity, and multimedia, along with various forms of presentation including photos, cultural relics, stone carvings, and 3D animations, the museum recreates the unique features of Mazu’s hometown, allows visitors to experience the charm of Mazu culture, immerse themselves in the spirit of Mazu, and pay tribute to this timeless saint.

4. Pan Gui Pavilion

Pan Gui Pavilion is a Qing-style double-linked round pavilion resembling a circular altar. It forms a visual counterpoint with Mazu Ping’an Tower, complementing each other from afar. There are two legends about why Pan Gui Pavilion was built atop this mountain peak: one suggests that it was the site where Mazu once “burned her house to guide ships,” and the other says it was where the young Mazu often gazed toward the sea, watching her family and fellow villagers return safely from fishing. The design of the pavilion also symbolizes the deep bond and shared bloodline between people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

Source: Fujian Provincial Tourism Development Commission