A grand worship ceremony for the Chinese sea goddess Mazu is staged at the 24th China Putian Meizhou Mazu Cultural Tourism Festival on Meizhou Island in Putian on Dec 18. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The 7th Global Mazu Culture Forum & the 24th China Putian Meizhou Mazu Cultural Tourism Festival were held on Putian's Mezhou Island, which is part of East China's Fujian province, from Dec 17 to 19. The island is the hometown of Mazu, the Chinese goddess of the sea.

Themed around "passion for peace and exchanges among civilizations", the forum aimed to inherit Mazu's philosophy of "virtue, kindness, and love" and promote the marine civilization concept of "sea of peace, sea of cooperation, and sea of harmony".