Laoma Gong, the Old Mother Palace, is Shantou's best-known Mazu temple and a reminder that this city has always looked seaward. Incense, carved beams, and votive plaques crowd the halls, while worshippers move through with the brisk familiarity of people visiting a working shrine, not a museum.
The temple sits close to the old port streets, so it combines easily with Small Park. Look closely at the roofline: the ceramic figures and ridge decorations are part of the same southern coastal temple language seen in Chaozhou and Fujian.