Boasting a history of over 500 years, Xinzheng Temple Fair will be held at Mazu Temple in Qingdao on New Year's Eve this year. The fair will also host a bell ringing ceremony for blessings and prayers.

The temple fair will open for 15 days at Mazu Temple starting Feb 9. Before that it will travel to Qingdao No 1 International School of Shandong on Jan 30. Various activities and traditional folk performances will be held on the campus, including sugar painting, paper-cutting, lantern riddles, dough figurines and wood engravings.

A series of local operas will be performed at the temple fair to present traditional Qingdao customs from Feb 13 (the fourth day of the lunar calendar) to Feb 15.

Diverse displays featuring folk arts and crafts, Mazu culture, the Hundred Family Surnames (a famous text from the Song Dynasty composed of the most common Chinese surnames) and folk houses will also be held at the fair.

To carry on the age-old tradition of Mazu Temple, there will be a welcoming ceremony for Caishen, the Chinese god of wealth, on Feb 14.

Edited by Michael Thai, Li Xiaoliang and Gao Yuan