The Fenggang temple fair of the Pearl Goddess
The seventeenth of the first month, at Fenggang in Majiao, Haojiang, Shantou: before the temple of the Pearl Goddess a “living table” is laid — live chickens and ducks standing on the offering tables, looked at by anyone, with firecrackers going off beside them, and neither starting nor flying; there is also a contest of sugar towers and great red peach cakes made large. The most excited part of the day is the welcoming of the goddess’s censer. Municipal heritage item, with tens of thousands of worshippers and visitors in a single day.
Three images of the 2026 fair on the seventeenth of the first month, taken from a video posted that day by the Douyin user @极致风景摄影师曾德键 and cut frame by frame; not authorised by the photographer, used only to introduce this session, and withdrawn if the author asks. A line of subtitle at the top of each frame has been cropped away.
1. The main day is the seventeenth
The Shantou Media Group custom guide puts it on the seventeenth of the first month. Older accounts write “the night of the sixteenth to the seventeenth”, and both are in use: the night of the sixteenth is when things are prepared and the offerings laid out, the seventeenth is the day itself. To see the whole of it, come on the evening of the sixteenth.
| Year | Lunar date | Gregorian |
|---|---|---|
| 2027 | 17th of the 1st month | 22 February 2027, Monday |
| 2028 | 17th of the 1st month | 11 February 2028, Friday |
| 2029 | 17th of the 1st month | 1 March 2029, Thursday |
| 2030 | 17th of the 1st month | 19 February 2030, Tuesday |
| 2031 | 17th of the 1st month | 8 February 2031, Saturday |
The Gregorian column is a calendar conversion and does not mean it will be held that way; no announcement for 2027 or later has been seen.
2. Three things: the living table, the sugar towers, the peach cakes
The living table is what is most particular here. Live chickens and ducks stand on the offering tables; people crowd beside them and firecrackers go off at their ears, and they stand there all the same. Why live birds are offered, the report says outright is an age-old puzzle — the locals cannot explain it either, and there is the practice without the reason.
The sugar towers are a contest: towers built of sugar, judged on height and on standing firm. The red peach cakes are made large, both as offerings and as a display of skill. All three are before the temple, and read in a row they are the whole of the day.
The finale is the welcoming of the goddess’s censer. The report calls it the most stirring part and does not set out how it is done.
3. The goddess and the temple
The Pearl Goddess looks after the illnesses of children, and is worshipped all along the Chaoshan coast. The Fenggang fair is held on the north slope of a hill, on a small ground: a steel-framed shed goes up before the temple and the tables and offerings fill it.
The lists: municipal, the year and batch of the announcement not checked against an original document; for the hierarchy, follow the heritage lists.
Getting there: the nearest station is Chaoyang, for Fenggang in Majiao, Haojiang, the temple on the north slope of the hill; spaces are few, so arrive half an hour early. In festival time village roads often run one way or are closed at short notice, and a navigation estimate excludes parking and the walk in; a night session often ends after nine, and the way back should be checked against the year’s timetable rather than reasoned from past experience.
4. Where to stand
Two layers: how past reporting describes it, and where this site suggests standing.
As past reporting describes it. The offering tables stand in rows before the temple, with worshippers and visitors in the tens of thousands; the report gives no viewing area and no cordon.
An editorial note. The temple is on the north slope and spaces are few, so arrive half an hour early; do not lean on the tables or touch the live birds; there is a great deal of burning, so wear something that does not catch easily. These are suggestions made here from standing at such sessions, not the rules of the organisers or the police.
5. Sources
| Source | Body | Date | What it establishes |
|---|---|---|---|
| “Spring Festival of the bingwu year: the liveliest customs in Shantou” | Shantou Ganlan net (Shantou Media Group) | 13 February 2026 | the seventeenth of the first month; the tens of thousands; the living table; the sugar-tower contest; the great peach cakes; the welcoming of the censer; the municipal listing |
The report says outright that there is no answer to why live birds are offered, and this page stops where the report does.
6. What comes next
In lunar order: before it, Xikou, through the sugarcane lanes on the sixteenth; after it, the Guanshan pig contest on the seventeenth and eighteenth. Also in Shantou is Hepu ying lao ye.
Elsewhere on the site: ying lao ye: its form and the village days, the heritage lists, Shantou routes.
Back to the Chaoshan procession calendar for all twenty-three sessions.
Home › Customs › The procession calendar › The Fenggang temple fair of the Pearl Goddess
Last revised: 4 November 2026