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China to Build "Oriental Mecca"
China plans to turn an island in the eastern Fujian Province into an "oriental Mecca," a government official said Tuesday.
The Meizhou Island has a temple of Mazu and a sea goddess, worshipped by more than 200 million people worldwide.
Although there are more than 4,000 Mazu temples in different parts of the world, the Tianhou Temple on the island was built first.
"We will invest heavily in the island so that it could become a global Mazu culture research center and a pilgrimage center for Mazu followers, or the Oriental Mecca," an official with the municipal government of Putian said.
In recent years, the government and private investors have put more than 600 million yuan in renovating the Tianhou Temple and building 36 new temples, face-lifting facilities, and improving roads, water supply systems, telephone lines and harbors, he told Xinhua.
Mazu, a legendary figure of the Song Dynasty (960-1279), was born in Meizhou Bay. Her original was Lin Mo and the woman was said to have saved a lot of lives from sea.
The government and businessmen plan to invest more than five billion yuan (about 600 million U.S. dollars) by the year 2010 to further refurbish temples and develop entertainment facilities on beaches and mountains on the island.
The island, on the western side of the Taiwan Straits, was traditionally inhibited by fishermen and military forces. It was not opened to visitors until October of 1992.
Mazu is worshipped by people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits.
Recently, thousands of people from Taiwan held a traditional ceremony on the island to worship Mazu. This is the second time for Taiwan compatriots to come to the mainland to worship the goddess since 1987.
In Taiwan, there are more than 800 Mazu temples with 16 million followers.
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