A Chinatown is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania, and the Americas.
Mazu or Matsu is a Chinese sea goddess also known by several other names and titles. She is the deified form of the legendary figure Lin Mo or Lin Moniang, a Fujianese shamaness whose life span is traditionally dated from 960 to 987. Revered after her death as a tutelary deity of seafarers, including fishermen and sailors, her worship spread throughout China's coastal regions and overseas Chinese communities throughout Southeast Asia and overseas, where some Mazuist temples are affiliated with famous Taiwanese temples. She was thought to roam the seas, protecting her believers through miraculous interventions. She is now generally regarded by her believers as a powerful and a benevolent Queen of Heaven. Mazu worship is popular in Taiwan as large numbers of early immigrants to Taiwan were Hoklo people; her temple festival is a major event in the country, with the largest celebrations around her temples at Dajia and Beigang.
Hong Kong counts approximately 600 temples, shrines and monasteries. While Buddhism and Christianity are the most widely practiced religions, most religions are represented in the Special Administrative Region.
The Chinatown centered on Grant Avenue and Stockton Street in San Francisco, California, is the oldest Chinatown in North America and one of the largest Chinese enclaves outside Asia. It is also the oldest and largest of the four notable Chinese enclaves within San Francisco. Since its establishment in 1848, it has been important and influential in the history and culture of ethnic Chinese immigrants in North America. Chinatown is an enclave that has retained its own customs, languages, places of worship, social clubs, and identity. There are two hospitals, several parks and squares, numerous churches, a post office, and other infrastructure. Recent immigrants, many of whom are elderly, opt to live in Chinatown because of the availability of affordable housing and their familiarity with the culture. San Francisco's Chinatown is also renowned as a major tourist attraction, drawing more visitors annually than the Golden Gate Bridge.
The Oroville Chinese Temple (列聖宮) is a Chinese folk religious temple built in 1863 in Oroville, California. The temple is now owned by the City of Oroville and open to the public as a museum, and it also continues to be used occasionally for worship.
Weaverville Joss House State Historic Park is a state park located in the center of the town of Weaverville, California. The site is a Taoist temple which is still in use, and is the oldest Chinese temple in California.
Hau Kok Tin Hau Temple is a Tin Hau temple in Tuen Mun, Hong Kong.
Kong Chow Temple is a temple dedicated to Guan Di, located in the Chinatown neighborhood of San Francisco, California, in the United States.
The Temple of Kwan Tai is a Chinese Taoist temple in Mendocino, California, dedicated to Kwan Tai. It is California Historical Landmark #927.
The Taoist Temple at No. 12 China Alley in Hanford, in Kings County, California, dates from 1893. It was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1972.
The Luerhmen History and Culture Museum is a historical and cultural complex in Annan District, Tainan, Taiwan.
The Yokohama Ma Zu Miao is a temple of the Chinese Goddess Mazu located in Yokohama, Japan. It opened on 17 March 2006. It is located in Yokohama's Chinatown.
The Tianfei Palace, officially the Mazu Cultural Palace and also known as the Tianhou Palace, is a restored temple of the Chinese sea-goddess Mazu, the deified form of the medieval Fujianese shamaness Lin Moniang, located in Fangta Park in Songjiang, Shanghai, in eastern China. Officially classified as a museum, the Tianfei Palace conducts Mazuist rites twice a year, on the traditional anniversaries of Lin Moniang's birth and death. It is also used as the site for an annual commemoration of Songjiang's city god Li Daiwen.
The Lukang Tianhou Temple, also known as the Lukang Mazu Temple, is a Chinese temple dedicated to the Chinese Goddess Mazu, the Goddess of Sea and Patron Deity of fishermen, sailors and any occupations related to sea/ocean. The temple is located at 430 Zhongshan Road in Lukang Township, Changhua County, Taiwan. It is one of the island's most famous and popular Mazu temples.
San Chaopho Suea (Sao Chingcha) (Thai: ศาลเจ้าพ่อเสือ (เสาชิงช้า)) or San Chaopho Suea Phra Nakhon (ศาลเจ้าพ่อเสือพระนคร), usually shortened to San Chaopho Suea (ศาลเจ้าพ่อเสือ; simplified Chinese: 打恼路玄天上帝庙; traditional Chinese: 打惱路玄天上帝廟; pinyin: Dǎ nǎo lù xuán tiān shàngdì miào; commonly known in English as Tiger God Shrine) is a Chinese joss house located at 468 Tanao Road, San Chaopho Suea Sub-district, Phra Nakhon District in the old town Bangkok (Rattanakosin Island) near Sao Chingcha (Giant Swing) and Wat Mahannapharam with features the Southern Chinese architectural style. It is the shrine of Chaopho Suea (เจ้าพ่อเสือ; lit: Tiger God), according to the ancient Chinese belief and it is one of the most respected Chinese shrines in Bangkok and Thailand alike Wat Mangkon Kamalawat in Chinatown, especially during the Chinese New Year.
Tian Hou Gong Temple is a Chinese temple situated in Jalan Balik Bukit in the north of the Chinatown of Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia.
Bengang Tianhou Temple is a temple located in Nangang Village, Xingang Township, Chiayi County, Taiwan. Sitting on the south shore of the Beigang River, the temple is dedicated to Mazu, Goddess of Sea.
Beidou Dian'an Temple is a temple located in Beidou Township, Changhua County, Taiwan. The temple is dedicated to the sea goddess Mazu, who is the deified form of Lin Moniang.
Xingang Fengtian Temple, sometimes romanized as Fongtian Temple, is a temple located in Xingang Township, Chiayi County, Taiwan. The temple is a county-level monument and the destination of the annual Dajia Mazu Pilgrimage.
