Kong Chow Temple

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Kong Chow Temple

Historic Chinese temple

855 Stockton Street
(at the corner of Clay Street)
San Francisco, CA 94108
+1 415 788 1339

This old temple (founded 1857) housed in a new building (built in 1977) that also houses the Chinatown Post Office is located on the fourth floor. It is a large light-filled room with stark white walls and a pyramid-shaped ceiling with a skylight at its apex. The elaborate altar displays the deity Kuan Ti with attendant deities. The altar and other carved panels were moved from the original temple nearby and are beautifully gilded and carved in amazing detail. The view from the balcony, one of the nicest in Chinatown, includes the Transamerica Pyramid. A temple story has it that Harry Truman visited the temples old location just before the 1948 election and made an offering for good luck. It may have done the trick.

Review © 2009, Wcities

Kong Chow Temple photo by Trevor Attridge

Kong Chow Temple Photo: Trevor Attridge