A boat 46 Taiwanese feet long ends its life as ash on Zhenhai Park beach
Related guide: Donggang King Boat Ceremony 2027
The boat for the coming edition was built without pay by 76 boatbuilders and volunteers from Donggang and Liuqiu. From the start of work to the last coat of paint took close to a year, of which the woodwork itself took about three months and the painting about two. Built for the 2027 Dingwei edition, it is 46 Taiwanese feet 6 inches long and was consecrated at Donglong Temple at 9:15 am on 8 July 2026.
Donglong Temple's main deity is Lord Wen, whose name sounds like the word for plague. The Royal Lords tour on heaven's behalf: during the ceremony they are welcomed into Donggang and worshipped, then sent away with the boat, taking plague and bad luck out of town.
The eight days begin with the water-fetching rite. On the first day of the 2024 edition, Donglong Temple and Donggang's seven neighbourhood associations welcomed the Royal Lords at Zhenhai Park on the southwest shore. On the eighth day the boat returns to the same beach.
On the night of the send-off the boat is moved from the temple grounds to the shore, and in 2018 the procession was still going after 1 am. On the beach, paper offerings and agarwood beside the boat are lit first, then the fire spreads to the hull, and the boat, about 8.6 Taiwanese feet high at its centre, burns where it stands.
The full guide to this festival
Donggang King Boat Ceremony 2027: triennial rite, expected in autumn
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Tickets and transport you can book
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Donggang, Pingtung
Donggang–Xiaoliuqiu round-trip ferry
Ferries leave from Donggang pier, so Xiaoliuqiu fits around the festival. You must exchange for paper tickets, and the return leg must be used within 7 days.
See plansXiaoliuqiu, Pingtung
Xiaoliuqiu glass-bottom boat & semi-submarine
A 40-minute glass-bottom semi-submarine ride to see the reef without getting wet; with luck, green sea turtles too.
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