Thais roll out the red carpet for Mazu visit

To further spread Mazu's spirit, since 2017 the Meizhou Mazu Ancestral Temple has initiated a cultural exchange campaign by arranging foreign visits for the Mazu statue to countries along the Maritime Silk Road.

"Mazu's followers include people of different colors and with different religious backgrounds," Zhou said, adding that the goddess "gained their faith for her inclusiveness and advocating peace".

Mazu visited Singapore and Malaysia in 2017, and the Philippines last year.

Xinhua