
From above, Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao waves at parading deities below
The gates to the Underworld are open for the Ghost Month. In Hsinchu, one of the highlights is a street parade by local deities, which took place on Thursday. Hsinchu City Mayor Ann Kao watched the parade from the second floor balcony of City Hall, making sure to wave to the crowd below, which included revered temple deities. There was just one problem though: the city mayor, a mere mortal, committed a folk custom faux pas by looking down at the deities.
Ghost Month is here, and also underway is the annual Hsinchu Zhongyuan Festival. Taking place on Thurday afternoon was the removing of the cangue ceremony. The temple procession paraded around the city, but an unintentional blasphemous act took place when the participants and their deities passed by City Hall.
Standing on the 2nd floor balcony, waving to the crowd below, is Mayor Ann Kao, who has a bird’s eye view of the procession. And that’s the problem: Kao has likely committed a religious taboo.
Member of public
Feels Mayor Kao disrespected deities
I feel it’s incredibly inappropriate. If she wants to show respect to the City God, then she should be offering incense in the street below, which would be a more respectful way to treat the deities. Standing up there looking down like that, it’s basically like stepping on a deity’s palanquin; this is truly, incredibly impolite.
Voice of Lin Mao-hsien
Expert in folk customs
Normally, the way we do it is you’d come down, come down the stairs, and then you’d meet the deities with respect; at the very least you shouldn’t be standing higher than the deities, which is a basic form of respect.
Many went to Threads to criticize Kao, saying things like she was acting all high and mighty. Other comments said she was “super rude” and that everybody knows to not stand up on a pedestrian bridge when an important temple deity like Mazu passes by.
Yang Ling-yi
Hsinchu City councilor (DPP)
It’s clear as day, Mayor Kao sees herself as an emperor, like she came here to inspect the troops during a military parade. Doing what she did is rather inappropriate. Her aides, and she herself, should take some time to understand what praying during this ceremony means, and what’s the true message of this event.
Yang Chun-tzu
Hsinchu City Spokesperson
During a break between meetings, the city mayor just happened to hear the procession was passing by, so she went to the balcony to see how everything was going. Some everyday people saw the city mayor, so they waved towards her, and Mayor Kao responded in a friendly manner.
The Hsinchu City Government didn’t directly address whether Kao was actually standing at a higher vantage point than the deities and whether she had committed a taboo. Officials only expressed that Kao was just waving as a means of interacting with the general public.
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2026-08-14