Taipei: Mazu Parade

I woke up today to a voice blaring over an unseen loudspeaker that seemed to be addressing the entire downtown area of Taipei. I couldn't understand the Chinese, but the tone was slightly big-brother esque and alarming. While walking in the city later on in the morning, I discovered that the voice was coming from megaphones attached to cars completely plastered in yellow and red carnation-like flowers. The beds of these passing cars were filled with large flower bouquets, and what seemed to be mini red shrine/pagodas made of more flowers.

Flower Cars

Flower Pagodas

Upon returning home, my family told me that today was the parade for Ma Zu - the regional Goddess of the Sea. Legend has it that Ma Zu was a young girl who was an excellent swimmer; so excellent, that she would often guide sailors and fisherman in treacherous waters back to safety. One day she saved her brothers / father from drowning during a great storm, and since that day forward she became known as the patron saint of the sea and sea men. My uncle told me that today's parade was in celebration of her her birthday, but I find it coincidental that this parade happened to fall on mother's day as well.

Parade from above

A little closer

And up close

My dad and I went to catch up with the parade as it made its way through the city. There were so many sights, sounds, smells to this parade that I barely even know where to begin. First off there were hundreds of people in the parade dressed in bright yellow and pink, some wore neon orange hats. These colorful people manned the colorful car floats down the main streets of Taipei, Taiwan. One of the most striking features of the parade were the huge puppets of the demigods. Standing over 8 feet tall, some of the giant demigods had red angry faces, others had smiling angelic ones. All wore flowing robes of gold, yellow, and red as they swaggered along with a ghostly gait. The people in the parade blew traditional trumpets / stringed instruments and clanged symbols, which made for a noisy, discordant, and other-worldly tune like wailing spirits. Parade watchers on the street held long, burning sticks of pungent incense which mixed with the smell of fragrant flowers on the floats, in people's hands, and on the streets. The whole scene seemed to be a call to the spirit world of Ma Zu; a spirit world that is strange and powerful, that can only be mollified by superstitious ritual.

Red angry face demigod

Smiley giant demigod

Demigod parade

Megaphone Car

Ma Zu shrines on the street

Parade procession

Parade marching band

Parade procession

Parade trumpeters

Strings of firecrackers were set off before important parts of the parade would pass through (the giant demigods, Ma Zu in a litter, etc.). The first time a set of those firecrackers went off next to us, my dad ducked his head and starting running like the dickens. In that small, unexpected instant, the noise, smoke, smell, and fear was just how I would imagine a war zone might feel like. After one of these firework demonstrations, the bystanders next to us started lining up in the street, right in the middle of the parade. After some organization, they kneeled on the floor one after another awaiting for some upcoming event in the parade. Soon the litter in which Ma Zu sat, carried by parade volunteers, emerged out of the column of firecracker smoke, and passed over the kneeling people while bits of firecracker debris floated down on the scene.

Laying out the firecrackers

Setting the firecrackers off

Puppets stomping on firecracker shells

Pink dragon dancing in firecracker smoke

Ma Zu litter

Ma Zu worshipers

It was interesting to see all of this tradition and culture juxtaposed to the realities of a modern city. Sometimes the giant demigod puppets would topple over to reveal an overheated, yet very human looking, parade volunteer underneath. Columns of ornately dressed stilt walkers would pass by with cigarettes in their mouths. And my absolute favorite, was the "baton twirlers", who wore fishnets and lingerie while walking desultorily before the marching band. It was a bit jarring to see what looked like prostitutes in a religious themed parade, but I suppose it was good advertising.

Stilt walkers

Street Walkers

After and hour, Dad and I left with firecracker ash on our clothes and fresh impressions of the parade on our minds. The Ma Zu parade was a great thing to see on mother's day.