Ong Chun ceremony, also known as Wangchuan or Wangkang, rituals and related practices for maintaining the sustainable connection between humans and oceans, is inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO on December 17, 2020. It was jointly put forward by China and Malaysia. /CFP

The ceremony and related practices are rooted in folk customs of worshiping Ong Yah, a deity believed to protect people and their lands from disaster. Its element, developed in southeast China's Fujian Province (today) between the 15th and 16th centuries, is now centered in Xiamen Bay and Quanzhou Bay, as well as in Chinese communities in Melaka, Malaysia. /CFP

The ceremony includes people gathering by the sea to welcome Ong Yah to temples or clan halls, erecting lamp poles to summon "good brothers" (people lost at sea), and delivering them from torment, through which it honors the connection between humans and oceans with performances featuring gezai opera, various dancing, dragon and lion dances and puppet shows. /CFP

The Ong Chun ceremony is usually hosted once every three or four years in a fixed lunar month, but the certain date is determined by poe divination. /CFP