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A Chinese man recently went viral on Chinese social media for posting a video of him sitting next to a statue of the Chinese goddess of the sea — Mazu — on a plane.

The experience

Speaking to the Moment News, the passenger, surnamed Liu, shared that his unusual encounter took place on his flight from Shanghai to Yantai, a city in China's Shandong province, on Apr. 21.

He admitted that, at first, he was a bit scared when a group of individuals placed the statue right next to him on the plane because he had never seen one before.

However, his fear quickly faded away after one of the escorts of the statue told Liu that Mazu would bless him.

After learning that Liu actually works in the marine industry, the escort said that he was very lucky because usually, they would book a chartered aircraft or reserve all the seats surrounding the statue.

However, on that day, the escorts were only able to purchase the seat next to Liu's for Mazu as they bought the ticket in a rush.

Feeling blessed by his travel buddy, Liu added that he would be buying lotteries after offboarding the plane.

Reactions

After Liu's video went viral, many Weibo users took to the comments section to highlight how lucky he is, especially considering he works at sea.

Translation:

@i4everxin7:

"Wow, this must be a destined encounter between you and Mazu. You currently work in the marine industry, and you met the goddess of the sea. You're so lucky!"

@ninaozihaizhengchangma:

"You are truly so lucky. I thought you would need to pay more to sit next to Mazu."

@huahuadechaojibeibei:

Mazu will be celebrating her birthday soon, so she would make a divine manifestation [and bless you]."

One commenter even wittily said that if she were to sit next to a deity like Liu, she would be making wishes throughout her journey.

Mazu also visited Singapore in 2017

On Jul. 5, 2017, Mazu arrived at Singapore's shores from her birthplace, Meizhou, as part of her Southeast Asia tour.

It was the first time in more than 1,000 years the goddess had made such a trip since the birth of the religion, which is said to date back to the Song Dynasty.

During her time in Singapore, Mazu went on a 100km tour around the country, escorted by 200 temple representatives and greeted by devotees as well as onlookers alike.

The goddess ended her tour at the Thian Hock Keng temple at Telok Ayer Street after making eight stops at eight temples.

Her visit was such a significant event that Tan Aik Hock, then chairman of the Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan's general affairs committee, shared that it felt like "a parent visiting her children."

Top image via The Paper/Weibo