Located in Miaotou Community of Shuidong Jie of Hangpu District, Boluo Temple is also called South China Sea Temple.The Boluo Temple Fair is one of the biggest traditional civic temple fairs of Guangzhou, which can date back to some one thousand years. This temple fair is between the eleventh day and thirteenth day of the second year according to Chinese lunar calendar. The thirteenth day is the birthday of Boluo, the God of the sea. During the three days, the South China Sea Temple (Boluo Temple) covers dozens of square miles. The water and land periphery areas are shrouded in festivity. People from all social sectors come to the temple, which is teeming with an endless stream of tourists and clouds of incense and smoke. Firecrackers are burnt, culminating in a festive atmosphere which is of grater jubilation than the Spring Festival. As a traditional saying goes, the No. 1 priority of life is to celebrate the Boluo Festival and the No. 2 priority is to get married.
Buying Boluo chickens is a necessary activity of the Boluo Temple Fair. boluo chicken is a folk artwork made of paper. Tradition has it that the boluo chicken is a “magic chicken”. Among some 100,000 paper chickens, one can crow like a real chicken. Whoever buys this crowing boluo chicken can make a good fortune.
Legend has it that in ancient times, there lived a old woman surname Zhang near the Boluo Temple. She kept a very vigorous and crowing rooster. A rich landlord, who was fond of rooster fighting, intended to buy the old woman’s rooster at a high price. The old woman refused. The landlord sent his servants to steal the rooster. Unexpectedly, the rooster stopped crowing. In a rage, the landlord had it killed. Deeply saddened, the old woman picked up all its feathers and brought them home. She made a rooster with yellow mud and paper, pasting all the feathers on it. The next morning, the paper rooster crowed like a real one. Delighted, the old woman made plenty of paper rosters and put them on sales in a local market during the Boluo Festival. Such is the tradition of boluo chicken.
※ Location: South China Sea Temple, Miaotou Community, Shuidong Jie, Huangpu District, Guangzhou.
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