Tianfei Palace (Songjiang)

The Tianfei Palace was first erected on Henan Rd. just north of Suzhou Creek in downtown Shanghai in 1883. By that time, the traditional celebrations of Mazu's temple festival during the week of the 23rd day of the third lunar month had already been curtailed. It was the last of Shanghai's Mazu temples to be destroyed. The temple was moved in 1978 and initial repairs completed by 1980. It was protected by the district-level government in October 1993. Another reason for Songjiang's approval of the temple was the belief that the presence of a temple to Mazu—a very popular deity on Taiwan—would encourage investment from Chinese businessmen there. One such businessman even funded completing the temple's restoration in 2001, allowing it to be fully opened in 2002. It was protected by Shanghai's municipal government in April 2014. ==Architecture==

The main hall is a brick-and-wood structure high and covering an area of . It includes authentic and restored Qing-era architectural forms, carvings, and inscriptions, including calligraphy by Chen Peiqiu, Wu Jianxian (, Wú Jiànxián), and Zhou Huijun (, Zhōu Huìjùn). ==Services==

The temple includes an altar, burning incense, and recorded chanting but is unregistered with the religious authorities, it lacks a permanent priest, and all ticket proceeds benefit the parks department. For Mazuist immigrants and tourists, the Tianfei Palace hires Fujianese priests to visit and conduct religious services twice a year, on the traditional anniversaries of Lin Moniang's birth and death. Without condoning the quasi-legal cult, the park workers consider that "this is just good business" (). The temple is also the site of an unrelated annual commemoration of the birth of Li Daiwen (, Lǐ Dāiwèn), a Ming official who unsuccessfully resisted the Qing invasion of the area but became celebrated as one of Songjiang's city gods. Thousands of bowls of soy milk and youtiao are distributed to those who gather to burn incense in his honor. Because the celebration follows the Chinese lunar calendar, its date (18/6) varies from year to year in the Gregorian system. ==See also==