To people who lived by the sea, worshipping Mazu is by far the most important thing to do. Penghu Mazu Temple is the earliest Mazu temple to be established in Taiwan, currently listed as "National Grade One Historic Site". Fishermen along the coast of Fukien established another Mazu Temple in Penghu like the one they had back home to watch over them when they sail out, in the blink of an eye, the Temple has watched over Penghu people for over four hundred years, the Chinese pronunciation of the Mazu Temple is "Magong", which is where the name of Magong City came from. The Temple is not only the landmark of Magong, but also the spiritual symbol of Penghu.
The Mazu Temple not only has a long history, also interesting architectural features. The Mazu Temple has a front (Shanchuan Temple), middle and back temple, with a row of "guarding dragon" (an extra row of houses) on either side. The horizontal inscription board with the temple name on Shanchuan Temple has three dragons guarding the words "Mazu Temple", even though the colors have faded after so long, you can still sense the delicacy of the work back then; the beams and columns at the front and back still have lion base and dual-rabbit base, used to support the beams, columns and the roof; inside the temple, you can still see stories such as "Jhaozihlong Saving His Master" portrayed. The middle temple have carvings with water color, flowers and birds as themes and style, with all eight doors decorated with flowers and bird, symbolizing the co-existence of wealth and happiness.