# How to Worship Online: A Complete Guide

> A step-by-step guide to worshipping online: the two-minute visit, the order of the fourteen incense burners, the five things that trip up first-timers, and how online worship compares with a physical temple. Free, no signup.

You don't have to go to a temple to worship. Tianyun Temple is an online Mazu temple that never closes: open the page and you step into a 3D main hall, bowing alongside people from all over. This guide walks through every step of a first visit — including the places where people usually get stuck.

## The visit, step by step (about two minutes)

1. Open the Tianyun Temple home page and give the 3D hall a moment to load. You'll find yourself standing in the courtyard.

2. Follow the worship prompts on screen. First stop is the service desk, for incense, joss paper and offerings.

3. Walk up to the Mazu statue in the main hall and tap Bow to offer incense.

4. Have a question? Tap Blocks to cast the moon blocks. Want a fortune? Tap Slip.

5. Before you go, light a lamp on the wall or leave a wish on the wish wall.

## Five things that trip up first-timers

1. The first load takes a while. The 3D hall builds the whole temple on entry, so the first visit is noticeably slower than later ones. Refreshing mid-load only starts it over.

2. You need incense from the service desk. People look for the Bow button straight away, but you cannot bow without incense — go to the desk on your right as you face the gate and buy a bundle with temple coins.

3. One stick per burner, and you have to walk to it. Tapping from the middle of the hall does nothing; you need to be standing at that burner.

4. Say who you are before casting. Tapping Blocks without an address just gives you a result. Name, birth date, address, then the question.

5. Keep the phone upright. In landscape the interface covers some of the buttons.

## The fourteen incense burners

Tianyun Temple follows the traditional route with fourteen burners, in a fixed order, one stick each:

| # | Burner | Common prayers |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | Heaven Lord censer (Jade Emperor) | Announce yourself first; the other deities receive incense after |
| 2 | Mazu | Peace, work, family |
| 3 | Xuantian Shangdi | Warding off misfortune, safety |
| 4 | Martial Wealth Deity | Money, sales |
| 5 | Wenchang | Exams, promotion |
| 6 | Lord Guan | Work, integrity, justice |
| 7 | Yue Lao | Marriage and partnership |
| 8 | Earth God | The neighbourhood, business |
| 9 | Guanyin | Peace, health |
| 10 | Zhusheng Niangniang | Children, parenting |
| 11 | Doumu | Averting misfortune, vitality |
| 12 | Jiutian Xuannü | Insight, exams |
| 13 | Ksitigarbha | The deceased, ancestors |
| 14 | Tiger God | Wealth, protection |

## How is this different from visiting a temple?

Online worship comes down to sincerity. Everything you see happens live: the worshippers beside you are real people, connected at the same moment; the lamps in front of Mazu light up one by one; and the temple chairman now and then releases sky lanterns, sets off fireworks and scatters red envelopes. The daily Empress of Heaven Daily records what went on in the temple, much like the notice board outside a real one.

## Online versus a physical temple

The differences come down to time, money and whether you can see the other worshippers:

|  | Physical temple | Tianyun Temple online |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Hours | Temple opening hours | 24 hours |
| People | Queues, passing shoulders | Real people in the same hall, visible to each other |
| Incense | Real incense, smoke and scent | Virtual incense; the furnace plays a burning animation |
| Offerings | Physical, and you shop for them | Bought with temple coins at the desk |
| Moon blocks | Physical blocks | Animated, with the same odds |
| Shoujing | The temple grandmother, in a queue | Two grandmothers by the furnace, one shared queue |
| Cost | Donation, at your discretion | Everything is free |

## Do I need an account, or to pay?

Neither. There's nothing to sign up for and nothing to buy. Open the page and you get a character of your own; your coins, outfits and lamp history are kept on this device. To move to a new phone, copy the recovery code from settings and enter it there — your identity comes with it.

## Can I worship on a phone?

Yes. Tianyun Temple is a PWA, so it works straight from the browser on iPhone and Android. Add it to your home screen and it runs full-screen, like an app. Desktop and tablet work too.

## If you are outside Taiwan

The temple runs on Taiwan time (UTC+8). Evenings there are the busiest; from Europe or the Americas you will often have the hall almost to yourself.

The 3D interface is in Traditional Chinese, but the controls are icons — incense, blocks, slip, lamp. Follow the order in this guide and you can complete the visit without reading a word.

Nothing here takes payment: no donation button, no card form, no account, no email.

The first load pulls the 3D models, so it is heavier than an ordinary page. Wi-Fi is worth it the first time; afterwards the assets are cached.

## Frequently asked questions

### Does online worship actually count?

Sincerity is what counts. The sequence — taking incense, offering it, casting the blocks, drawing a slip, lighting a lamp, fulfilling a vow — follows traditional temple practice. The form supports the intention; it doesn't replace it.

### Is it really free?

Completely. Lamps and wishes cost nothing, and the coins you spend on incense and offerings are earned by worshipping and playing the night-market games.

### What should I say when I bow?

By custom you give your name, your lunar-calendar birthday and your address, then explain why you've come. Online, saying it silently is enough.

### How long does a first visit take?

Once you know the route, about two minutes. The first time is slower because the 3D scene has to load.

### Do I have to finish all fourteen burners?

No. Offering incense to Mazu and saying a few words is already a complete visit. The site remembers which burners you have done, so you can continue next time.

### What if I leave halfway?

Nothing happens. Your progress is saved and you can pick up from the burner you stopped at.

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Updated 2026-11-12 · Tianyun Temple 天雲宮 · https://tianyungong.com/en/guide/online-worship