While there would have been many other temples and deities, one would have united the whole community. This is still true in Taiwan and other areas outside the People's Republic of China, and to a limited extent even within the People's Republic. A trun- cated version of the ritual might last a full day, and require the services of just a few priests.
Temples typically perform such a ritual on the god's birthday each year, without a lot of fanfare.
Rarer, but far more significant, are performances of the full ritual, typically requiring five full days and eighteen priests, and involving the entire community. Communities might undertake this at intervals of twelve, twenty, or even sixty years, or might perform it irregularly. The ritual is split into a public side and a cloistered side. The public side brings in the entire community, and takes place at various temporary altars set up throughout the temple's area of authority. The cloistered side takes place inside the temple, whose entrance is blocked, with guards allowing access only to the priests and to a small number of community elders.