It's a beautiful temple. We come here to pray, worship and guidance - usually during times of…read morecelebration or need. The people have always been kind and parking never seems to be an issue.

For Vietnamese New Years, my family and I always like to go to many temples to pray for our…read morefamily's well-being for the entire year. Every year I try to find more temples to take my mom and my aunties so when my friend from my temple's youth group posted a picture with her family here, I knew I had to bookmark it for when I had the chance to come by. I believe this is a Chinese temple. The only big difference from the Chinese temples and the Vietnamese temples I have been to so far is that the Chinese temples let you wear your shoes indoors whereas you take off your shoes when you enter the mainhall at a Vietnamese temple. My auntie and I entered the main hall and my auntie was in awe. She was so happy at the architectural beauty and the temple and the amazing Buddhist statues that they have here. She said it resembled a temple back in our hometown in Vietnam that she would come and visit when she came back from the city. She was so excited that she told me to take pictures to show my mom and their other siblings. Of course, I will have to take my mom back here to experience that resemblance first hand. The smell of the incense already filled the air throughout the mainhall so my auntie and I decided to just burn one incense to prevent wasting too many incenses during the festive New Years celebrating. We said our prayers for the family and walked around to admire the temple. I think they had some New Years fortune things, but I am not able to read the writing so there was no point to grab any fortunes. Among the many tables in the mainhall, I saw this interesting table with red ribbon tied to a coin and I asked the volunteer behind the counter what it was for. From what my nonverbal skills could decipher the red ribbon with the coin is $5 each and the purpose is to make a wish and then throw the ribbon onto this wishing tree for good luck. I'm not sure if this is a new year thing or a Chinese Temple thing... but it sounded fun so I gave the volunteer $10 so that my auntie and I could make some wishes to start off the New Year on positive vibes. I don't know if it matters how high we throw it but I made sure to throw it onto a really high branch!! This is a really nice temple to visit if you are looking for a temple to visit in the area or if you are just curious and want to stop by to check it out for yourself. Lunar New Years is definitely one of the most festive times of the year to visit temple and in my opinion the best time to visit even if you aren't Buddhist.

xei xei. In loving memory of Dr. Li, an amazing and selfless physician, husband, father, son,…read morebrother and friend.

Sometimes, it takes more than Google Maps for me to find where I'm going. This temple on New Ave…read morewas so nicely decorated on the exterior and welcoming that I decided to enter the vicinity. The parking lot was small. There were some people leaving.... Service must have ended. I parked and asked for directions to the Chinese New Year 2017 Rooster Celebrations. Friendly group. And apparently, due to weather conditions... the festivities were changed to January 28th & 29th instead. Also, this place was not a temple. This was a beautifully decorated Buddha Monastery. The inside was gorgeous too. Yellow gold and red were prominent colors. There were lots of incense, flowers and fruit offerings to the statues. Peaceful. Happy Chinese New Year / Happy Spring Festival

This review is long overdue! During Lunar New Year, while visiting my grandma, my aunt told me…read moreabout Ton Thang Temple. I was in the middle of my own temple tour--visiting 10 different temples in two weeks--and she mentioned that this one was new, really pretty, and had a unique $20 donation package that included flowers, incense, and a chance to throw your fortune into a tree. So the next day, my partner, friend, and I dropped by--and wow. This temple is beautiful. It's on the smaller side, but there's something about being here that filled me with warmth. The space was decorated with stunning flowers around the statues, and there were plenty of spots for Lunar New Year photos. Once I stepped inside, I immediately felt a sense of peace. The volunteers were incredibly kind, making the experience even more special. Since the temple is still relatively new, there weren't too many visitors when I went (though that could be because I arrived around 4 PM). I'm definitely adding this temple to my rotation for next year's tour!

My mom wanted to do a good luck prayer for the LUNAR NEW YEAR so I searched on Yelp for the nearest…read moretemple to us and found Hsi Lai Temple!... FIRST OF ALL: WOW!! What a gorgeous and magnificent temple this is!! It has about 2 floors of parking and the temple also has additional floors to go up as well. So be expected to walk up quite a few amounts of stairs!! FIRST FLOOR: We did a prayer with a donation and it came with some apples and other assortments in a red gift bag. The red gift bag required a donation of $20 per bag so me and my mom bought 2. Then, their were some nice ladies there who helped guide is on what to do. We prayed in front of 5 statues and posted the red gift bags in the middle... SECOND FLOOR: This is where we can do another prayer with 1 incense. And this is also where the restrooms were as well so make sure you don't back down to the first floor because the RESTROOMS are on the second floor!!! PARKING: Plenty of parking. There are 2 floors available for parking!! This temple really transported us to another country!! It was also very peaceful and quiet!! SATU HSI LAI TEMPLE!!!

Hsi Lai Temple (completed in 1988) is one of the largest Buddhist temples in North America. During…read moreeach Lunar New Year, the temple transforms into a festive spot with cute decors. Many visitors from across Southern California have a tradition of visiting within the first 15 days of the Lunar New Year as this period is still considered a part of the holiday celebration. [Lunar New Year Food Fair]: Each year, the temple sets up a food fair and this year the fair happened on the 1st, 5th, and 6th days of the Lunar New Year. Always check the website for the dates the temple sets up the food fair. All dishes are 100% vegetarian. Booths were selling fa gao (Chinese steamed cake), nian gao (steamed rice cake), turnip cake, boba milk tea, and even Girl Scout cookies. [Parking]: Under normal circumstances, there is free onsite parking at the temple; however, do NOT bother trying to park at the temple on days when shuttle service is available as visitors will be redirected to a shuttle parking lot. Temporary off-site parking and shuttle buses were located at Puente Hills Mall near Round1. Check the website for shuttle service dates. This year the shuttle service was offered on the 1st, 5th, 6th, and 12th days of the Lunar New Year. The shuttle service operated from 8 AM to 5 PM. There were two types of shuttles - big buses dropped off at the street level so guests needed to walk up to the temple while small shuttles dropped off in front of the Bodhisattva Hall. [Other experience outside of food fair]: There were booths selling cute zodiac charms. Most visitors come here to do the following acitivities (1) ring the Peace Bell, (2) view art gallery exhibitions like calligraphy, (3) attend Dharma services, (4) participate in the Light Offering Ceremony on the 15th day of the Lunar New Year, (5) enjoy cultural performances on the 1st day of the Lunar New Year, (6) drink free hot teas at the information center, (7) throw pennies and try to hit a bell at the Arhat Garden, and (8) throw golden medallions with red ribbons at the tree. Visitors can go behind the Bodhisattva Hall to stop by the Main Shrine. At the Main Shrine, visitors can get free incense, pray & bow to Buddhas, and place it in the giant incense burner. Visitors can also purchase light offerings for $120 per person as well as other offering items at tables near the giant incense burner. [Photo]: Outdoors ONLY. [Prohibits]: No meat, fish, poultry, alcoholic beverages, smoking and vaping (e-cigarette), any use of marijuana, bicycles, rollerblading, skateboarding, pets (except certified service animals), and drone planes. [Dress code - preferred]: Shirts with sleeves (male and female), no tank tops, shorts, short skirts/dresses, flip-flops, or slippers. [Conclusion]: The temple offers one of the most comprehensive Lunar New Year food experiences in the entire Southern California. This is also one of the most festive places in Southern California during Lunar New Year. Highly recommend to stop by here at least once to experience the celebration. P.S. - The temple has a really good vegetarian lunch buffet.

The memories I have with this temple have been pleasant and heartwarming…read more I can remember holding my ba ngoai's hand going from statue to statue and praying with heart as I place each incense in their holder. But as I got older and moved out I found myself going less and less. But I felt that this year was the year to rediscover my culture and I came back during Lunar New Year's weekend. I came on Lunar New Year day (1/29) and once more on Sunday (2/03). Being able to come and pray once more has brought more peace and ease to my heart. Especially now knowing that my dad's photo is here makes me so happy to know how close to home he is. When my mom told me my dad's photo was here I knew I had to come back, but when I came I was overwhelmed by how many photos there were and asked one of the ladies there to help. She was able to find my dad through his name and birthday and lead me to his photo. I was so happy to see his smiling face once more that I got a little misty eyed. But held back my tears because it is not good luck to cry on Lunar New Year LOL The temple is clean with helpful volunteers and monks. I love the food they make here and my boyfriend is hooked! They mentioned on Sundays at 9am they start selling food so I know where I'm heading that morning to grab a quick bite, say hi to my dad, and donate to the temple.

The Amazing Temple, along with the Most Venerable Thich Vien Ly, helped me discover a true sense of…read morefamily.

REAL Tibetan Temple. The 8th Garchen Rinpoche's LA branch, and he's only here once a year. However…read morethis year is the last, and he's now permanently in Arizona after so many years of his world traveling and compassionate work. They have a website too, it is http://www.rinchencholing.org/ He's known to be the reincarnation of the compassionate Sutra. Meeting him in person was very touching as he is indeed sincere, genuine and full of wisdom, most importantly, compassionate and truly treats everyone he sees equally.

My parents and I enjoy our visit to this temple. They come every Sunday for volunteering and…read morepraying. They have made some friends and continue to help out the community.

Called them just now. It was going to my first time at a Buddhist temple. An Asian lady picked up…read morethe phone started talking in Mandarin. And I said hello in English and she hung up on me. I find this to be really rude service.

Nice temple! There's some parking on their lot as well as the street. Staff can speak English and…read moreVietnamese. They have events for Chinese new year.

Absolutely beautiful temple, and this one was welcoming to visitors. I did not feel like an…read moreoutsider here. The people who were here taking care of the place smiled at me and did not hover over me as I looked around. I took photos but I also tried to be respectful, and I said my thank yous to their gods. This place did smell very strong of incense, but was so gorgeous inside and out. They also had a restroom! ALSO WHEELCHAIR ACCESSIBLE WITH RAMPS!!!

Gwan Yin Temple is a great place to practice mediation and learning the teaching of the compassion…read moreBodhisattva. Our family come here at every Buddhist events and Chinese New Year.