00:0015 years ago, only about 5,000 registered participants followed Baishatun's Mazu on her annual pilgrimage across Taiwan's plains.
00:12This year, that number grew to over 700,000.
00:30The pilgrimage has been held yearly since the 1860s.
00:56It's the older of two long processions held in spring.
00:59Celebrating the birthday of a Chinese tutelary deity, Mazu.
01:03Mazu is particularly important in seafaring communities along Taiwan's western coast.
01:08She's believed to protect fishermen and sailors and anyone who makes their living on the ocean.
01:14Now, she was brought from China to Taiwan centuries ago, and she's been worshipped here for about 400 to 500 years.
01:21The Baishatun Mazu pilgrimage starts and ends in Miaoli, covering up to 400 kilometers in just over a week.
01:29Half the distance is done in three days, with alternating teams of sedan chair carriers at one point running through the night.
01:36What made this check famously challenging was its lack of a set path.
01:41The route is decided by divination along the way.
01:44This stopped many people from joining, as they didn't know where or when to find Mazu.
01:49But technology, in the form of GPS, a live stream, and tracking drones, has changed that.
01:56As turnout grows, small villages and remote intersections are overwhelmed.
02:12Rural toilets, built for a handful of locals, must suddenly serve tens of thousands.
02:19Volunteers fill the gaps.
02:21Those at the front of the procession may get home-cooked meals.
02:24Those at the back, at least some leftover chips and crackers.
02:28Local truck drivers also help out, offering rides to the road-weary on their tired trucks.
02:34The way it works, for the most part, seems to be, you just wave them down and hop on.
02:40And you just find a seat where you can get it.
02:43I know I promised I'd walk the whole thing, but it's starting to look like I'll be spending a lot of time on the tired truck.
02:49Mazu is Taiwan's most revered folk deity, and her pilgrimage offers a profound, uniquely Taiwanese experience.
02:57For some, it's deeply personal.
02:59My wife's body's not good.
03:02That's the first time I接触 to the wife's house in the house.
03:07I told her, if I had a wife's body, I would like to go to the house.
03:10If I had a wife's body, I would like to go to the house every year.
03:15And then, in a year, she'd go to the house.
03:18But I still always always with the house.
03:21Then, 4年前, I had to get a baby送 for kids.
03:25That送 for kids, when the child was born,
03:27For others, the trek is an act of gratitude.
03:46For others still, it's a sense of community,
04:16and shared culture that leads them to take part.
04:40In a small country like Taiwan, a pilgrimage that draws nearly a million people means a
04:44significant share of a population is taking part.
04:49For many here, it's a way to reconnect with tradition and search for meaning, using modern
04:53tools to follow something ancient while traversing a landscape that's both physical and cultural.
04:59Ryan Wu and Brynn Thomas for Taiwan Plus.
Comments