Matzu Temple

The ancient temple at Bao’an in Shenzhen is the place where you can do some sightseeing. The Matzu Temple, at Chi wan Liulu, in the Nanshan district has a small museum that is filled with statues and other works of art of miscellaneous origins. The Hong Yuan Si is the name of the adjoining abbot which is a beautiful home to almost a dozen of the monks who are aspiring to restore it.

One of Shenzhen’s other worthwhile temples – the Tianhou – or the Matzu Temple is named after Matzu who was the divine saint of seafarers. He is much revered throughout the coastal regions of Southern China where he seems to be worshipped almost as a form of Guanyin or the Goddess of Compassion. The original temple is said to date back to c. 1410 and is said to have been built as an offering to Matzu for sparing the fleet of the famous world-navigating eunuch Zheng He or as he is popularly known – Cheng Ho.

It is rather unfortunate that the temple, as it stands today, is the latest of a series of reconstructions of the original, this one dating from the early years of the 1990s. Located nearby is the Marco Polo Shenzhen where travelers can enjoy excellent accommodation.