bok kai temple

The inside is impressive and really you should take the time to arrange for a tour. We really learned a lot. The outside is sad and it really needs an infusion of tender loving care and lots of money. The levee right next to it does not help the visual impression on viewing it from the front. Very few left in CA so experience it for yourself.

I only walked the outside, it appears they have let it return to nature. It was deserted. Also, the back is almost crammed up against a dike, which makes it feel claustrophobic. Also, it's at the end of the main drag in Marysville- but 50% or more of downtown is closed up and boarded, so there's no reason to go there, seriously. It's clear that the Wal-Mart a mile away caused most of the town to close up shop. A sad place. Other than that, a sign said that private tours of the temple can be arranged, but the area depressed me.

The temple is only open during the Bok Kai Festival, so be sure to go when you can. It is very small and being restored as funds become available, so it's not like Chinese temples you may have seen elsewhere. Bok Kai is the goddess of sailors & rules water, which is why it was built a stone's throw from a levee.

Last weekend my brother John and I went to our former hometown of Marysville for his high school reunion. We visited the Bok Kai Temple that was built in the 1880's near the base of the D Street levee that prtected Marysville from floods of the Yuba River. Built in honor of the river god Bok Kai, the present temple has been restored exquisitely and we were fortunate enough to be allowed to enter the temple by its gracious caretaker Helen Soong (normally need to phone in advance) so we could marvel at a touch of history as well as its altar of saints and wall scrolls.Leading to the temple that is situated on the back of a restaurant is an archway and walkway with Bronze placque that contains the names of donors that made the restoration possible including memorial stone that honors Katie Lim who was a prime mover in the restoration.As kids living on D Street only 4 blocks away, John and I used to play on the levees behind the temple and on Bomb Day in March, we used to watch the parade and the scramble to catch the lucky rings that were shot into the sky. Now I know why my mother always said her lucky number was the No. 4 as that is the luckiest ring. As kids, we played around these hollow grounds, and now as wiser men we return to pay tribute.We walked 2 blocks further down to the old Chinatown Chinese school where my mother was once its principal, it was sad to see it padlocked with sign "Old Chinese School Circa 1840." Now our student brush-stroked school calligraphy is housed in the storage room of Bok Kai Temple.I felt very humble after returning to our Marysville roots....

its a cute little place and the people are super nice! we went long before the date I had to put but I still wanted to give it a review!

There aren't many Chinese temples left in Ca., so take the yearly opportunity to tour this when tours are given in the spring.

Great place to visit when it's open to the public -this is during the annual Bok Kai festival and parade in February of each year. This festival has been ongoing for 132 years!

What a traditional Chinese temple! Everything was old and smokey and shaky which means originality to me! Because of the Bok Kai Festival this weekend, a lot of Vietnamese Chinese were visiting, bearing roast pigs to offer to their gods. It is an active house of workship for many.