Hua Zang Si Buddhist Temple

photo from the flickr page of B G

I like to wander.  It’s really one of my favorite things to do. You know, just kinda going for a walk and seeing what kind of cool shit I come across.  Well for awhile I always noticed this humongous red church on 22^nd St and it reminded me of some of the architecture I saw in Munich, so I just figured it is/was some sort of German church.  Then just the other day I took a closer look and realized, “Shit, when did the Germans start writing in Chinese and having big ass statues of Buddha in the foyers of their churches?”  When I saw the sign that said “free admission” I knew I didn’t have a choice (curiosity is a sign of intelligence right?).  So I went inside and was delighted; there was a superb art exhibit by some very holy man, and a few of the biggest Buddha statues I’d ever seen in person.  One of them had to be close to two stories tall.  Apparently the place was a German Lutheran church built around 1900 and the Buddhists kept the original organ pipes and stained glass windows when they took it over.  Man, the nuns in there loved me!  They were very sweet and happily answered all of my questions.  They were just so excited that I came and checked out their spot.  So was I.

Hua Zang Si Buddhist Temple
3134 22^nd St. @ S. Van Ness

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