weaverville joss house state historic park

Babbasc

The firecrackers started the celebration in rousing fashion. This was followed by the Lion Dance - large and small. The celebration was enjoyed by a number of spectators on a beautiful, crisp sunny day. What a treat it was to enter the temple - the oldest in the state of California.Would recommend stopping and enjoying this bit of history in a quaint California mountain town.

cw99

excellent tour well worth it, nice area to stop and eat a lunch good history lesson about the area. Be aware that during the summer it gets very hot here and bring some water

crzycaligirl

The triple digit heat was really the only dislike although we would not recommend eating at the Red Dragon.

michaeldR2484AJ

Rare and ancient Taoist temple in the middle of gold country. The wooden temple was carved in China and shipped to California. Our guide, Jack Frost was quite knowledgeable and entertaining.

RVnChick

Wonderful tour guide, Jack Frost. We enjoyed the history, beauty and preservation of this site. Worth a visit ($4 entry) when in the area!

LarryM708

We have been meaning to get to this gem for a long time. My wife is Chinese American. We finally got a chance with a weekend with friends in Weed, California; so we did a detour through Weaverville.The California State Parks system has a very skeletal crew at this location, but the docent, Jack Frost (no, not kidding) is about as ideal a guide as you could imagine. He is a real fan of the temple, and knows both the basic facts of its history as well as some great anecdotes. If/when you go, I hope you get him as your guide. (BTW, you don't get into the temple without a guide.)

CHicdesigneer

We took the last tour of the day. Jack, our volunteer docent", was friendly and very informative about the Chinese history in the area. The temple was rustic and authentic. A very nice park as well.

CA7777

The historic Taoist Temple is right in middle of Weaverville. The temple's history and the story of its restoration are well told.

60stephene

It was great to visit the Joss House, although the park was closedn. We were able to walk around the grounds and the house, but the temple and the museum were closed as they are only open 4 days a week, my only complaint about the park. It was great to see a religious center preserved and I hope that the State of California will continue to support the upkeep of the location.

RoadWarrior268

This gold-rush temple was built by Chinese miners, and has served continuously ever since. It contains many precious artifacts and items of beauty and interest to anyone interested in the Old West, Asian history, or unique California treasures.It is now operated by the California State Parks, with enjoyable docent-led tours several days a week. A few times a year locals hold festivals featuring a lion dance troop at the temple, a show worthy of San Francisco's Chinatown or even Beijing. Anyone who passes through Weaverville without a visit to the Joss House is missing out. Highest recommendation.

JC-OMCA

On a day trip out of Redding I stopped here to explore a little, and was pleased to find a docent tour available. This is a lovely old temple and the history of the Chinese in Weaverville is different from that in many other 19th century California towns, making the visit particularly memorable. There's a small museum adjacent to the temple with good interpretive panels.

bonniep269

It's a museum but can still be used as a temple. It shows you some of the history of how the Chinese arrived in the 1800's, lived here , worshiped here.( they were the ones hired to work on the railroads and goldmines). The significance of some of the items which are very interesting. Their culture and beliefs (like why the door threshold had to be so many inches tall) and just filled with information on how the Chinese people lived their everyday lives. It's just an amazing little place that I hope doesn't have to permanently shut down due to budget cuts.

AlanR616

The temple is absolutely fascinating with its collection a genuine and beautiful artifacts from 19th century China. In addition to explaining the significance of the various items, our guide also gave us the story behind the building of the temple and the subterfuge Chinese community had undertaken in order to get the materials to Weaverville. Due the Chinese cultural revolution in the mid 60s and 70s, where so much heritage was destroyed, temples like this can no longer be found in mainland China. All in all a really worthwhile visit

ROCruiser

Finally, I got to visit Joss House which I have read about and wanted to see for a long time. Not for religious reason but for the historic aspect of it. There seemed to be no reason for us to be on that Hwy 299 as we live in So. Cal. This time we decided to go from Crescent City to Redding after the Oregon Coastal trip. I made sure that we stop here even if it was only for a short time. The place was actually just locked up for the day but the gentleman was nice enough to unlocked the temple so we could go inside. It's amazing how everything is kept. The grounds is beautiful and the museum is full of information. It just brings the history of Chinese immigrants alive with artifacts, photos, and documentations displayed. Make this a must stop when in the area and maybe have a picnic lunch outside the museum.

Leavethecar

The tours at this museum are great, the artifacts are beautiful, and the story of how they got to Weaverville from China in the 1800s is compelling. Very sad that the museum is slated to be shut down soon and the historic building moved into storage due to CA budget cuts.