The Tianhou Palace, a famous Taoist temple in Tianjin City, was built to fete Goddess Tianhou (the queen of heaven). It is situated at the middle section of the Ancient Cultural Street, Nankai District. The original names of the Tianhou Palace include the Tianfei Palace, the Xiaozhigu Tianfei Palace, the Western Temple and the Niangniang Palace.The main function of the Tianhou Palace is to pray for navigation safety. The palace was a center of marine sacrifice in the past dynasties, and also a venue for sailors to have happy get-togethers. Besides ceremonial rituals held to worship the Goddess of the Sea, various performances with Chinese characteristics are often held here to thank the goddess.

Lunar March 23 is the birthday of Mazu, the Goddess of the Sea and Huanghui fair is held here annually to memorize her o­n the day. During the Fair you will see performances of stilt walking, dragon lantern, land boat and lion dances. So the best season to visit here is antumn.

Admission Fee: RMB 3 yuan/person

Opening Hours: all day

Traffic:

Many buses can take you to the Tianhou Palace, such as Nos. 906, 5, 829 and so o­n. You can also reach there by taxi. The starting price for taxi is 8 yuan for the first three kilometers, and it will charge 1.3 yuan per kilometer starting from the fourth kilometer.