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    • Rose Bloom Balling
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The International Buddhist Temple, Richmond

Ancient China is Just a Step Away

Asian ponds
Chinese Temples
I have driven past the International Buddhist Temple in Richmond, B.C. many times over the years. I’ve eyed the numerous golden slated rooftops replete with traditional Chinese flying eaves from the road. They are hard to miss as they rise-up behind a tall and imposing brick wall that’s topped with scalloped slates made of clay. Such resplendent architecture intrigued me, so I decided an impromptu visit wouldn’t be amiss.
The International Buddhist Society
The Forbidden City
Chinese sculptures,Eighteen Arahats
As I drove through the entrance, my initial impression was disbelief. Was I still in Canada or had I gone through a time warp to ancient China?  I had expected a modest temple and a bit of garden, but I was pleasantly surprised. The Buddhist temple is part of a series of buildings - exquisite buildings, modelled after the Forbidden City in Beijing. Sadly, the main temple was closed to the public due to Covid, however, there was still plenty to see. Every area was finely detailed to duplicate ancient China.
Asian gardens
Chinese gardens
Chinese dragons
Chinese pagodas
Traditional Chinese workmanship is seen throughout the complex. The splendid imperial architecture is enhanced by tranquil gardens, simple but elegant water features, immense stone statues, impressive shrines crafted by hand and adorned with symbolic engravings. There's so many artistic elements, including artfully clipped trees, dotted around the property. There's a huge and impressive pond that is replete with a curved Asian bridge, stork statues and a delightful fountain comprised of three large fish spurting water in unison.
Asian door knocker
Chinese lotus sculptures
statue lotus
Strategically placed throughout the grounds are weirdly shaped limestone boulders, referred to as scholar’s rocks or Gongshi. These naturally occurring rocks have been hollowed out, eroded, pitted and twisted by flowing waters over hundreds of years. They are works of art in their own right, artistically crafted by the gentle but persistent hands of nature.
Picture
Elephant statue
bonsai tree
Gongshi
berm
lion talons
These serene gardens and majestic imperial structures are a world apart from the busy Steveston Highway outside its grand gates. It’s so serene and tranquil; no traffic can be heard. It’s difficult to imagine that modern day Canada is just a step away.
Asian gardens
The International Buddhist Temple is nonprofit society and has won the 125th Centennial Award from the Lieutenant Governor of Canada for their charitable work for people and animals. The temple is the city of Richmond’s ‘Point of Pride’ and has won the Richmond’s Landscape and Garden Contest for over a decade. To go to their website click on The International Buddhist Temple. 
Gongshi
Scholar's rock,Gongshi
bonsai
shrine
Picture
bonsai trees

Chinese gardens
Chinese lion statues

Chinese lotus sculpture
Chinese forest garden

Chinese pavilion
Elephant statues

Picture
Picture

Eighteen Arahats
Picture
Eighteen Arahats
Eighteen Arahats pavilion
Eighteen Arahats
bonsai plant
Eighteen Arahats

fountains
Chinese temples

outdoor seating
Asian bridges

Picture
Chinese pond and bridge
Chinese art
garden ornaments
stork statue
Eighteen Arahats
Lotus carving

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  • Home
  • About, Services, Contact
  • Ask Amanda
  • Roses
    • Types of Roses
    • Easy Roses
    • Climbing Roses
    • Portland's Rose Test Garden
    • Rose Insects & Diseases
    • Pruning Roses
    • Rose Sawfly
    • Rose Bloom Balling
  • Pruning Basics 101
    • Pruning Tools
    • Winter Pruning
    • Pruning Grapes
    • Pruning Clematis
    • Prune Your Own Garden Registration
  • Lawn Basics
    • Lawn Reno, Seed & Sod
    • Lawn Maintenance Schedule
    • Spring Lawn Care
    • Moss in Lawns
    • Lawn Alternatives
    • Lawn Grub Control
  • Mulch & Mulching
    • Living Mulches - Groundcovers
  • Propagation
    • Growing Seeds Outdoors
    • Growing Seeds Indoors
    • Taking Cuttings
    • Seed & Plant Catalogues
  • How to Garden Topics
    • Fall Garden Chores
    • Planting Know-How
    • Soil Building
    • Watering Tips & Techniques
    • Drought Gardening
    • Sheet Mulching, Lasagna Gardening
    • Cover Crops
    • Composting
    • Compost Tea
    • Houseplant Winter Care
    • Hummingbirds in Winter
    • Winterize Your Garden
    • Ponds in Winter
  • Growing Food
    • Spring Veggie Gardening
    • Crop Rotation, Succession & Companion Planting
    • Harvesting
    • Growing Potatoes
    • Winter Veggie Gardening
    • Taming Tomatoes
    • Speeding up Tomato Harvest
    • Tomato Tips
    • Saving Tomato Seeds
    • Tomato Troubles
  • Plant Pests 1
    • Plant Pests Part 2 - Controlling Insects
    • Garden Inspections
    • Helping Pollinators
    • Dogwood Anthracnose
    • Viburnum Leaf Beetle
    • Dormant Oil/Lime Sulfur
    • Japanese Beetles
    • Peony Blotch/Measles
    • Slugs & Snails
    • Horsetail, the Weed
    • June Beetle
    • Powdery Mildew
    • Soil Solarization
    • Rhododendron Leaf Spot
    • Plant Rusts
    • Black Knot
  • Container Growing
    • Choosing a Container
  • Feeding Plants 101
    • Fertilizers & Ratios
    • Nutritional Deficiencies & Toxicities
    • Organic Plant Food
  • Plant of the Month
    • Spring Flowering Bulbs
    • Colourful Fall Plants
    • Abelia
    • American Sweetgum
    • Ash (Fraxinus) Trees
    • Astilbes
    • Aubretia, Rock Cress
    • Aucuba, Japanese Spotted Laurel
    • Autumn Crocus
    • Bear's Breeches
    • Beautyberry, Callicarpa
    • Black-eyed Susans
    • Bleeding Heart, Lamprocapnos spectabilis
    • Calla Lilies
    • Dahlias
    • Daylily
    • Delphiniums
    • Devil's Walking Stick, Aralia spinosa
    • Dwarf Alberta Spruce
    • Dwarf Burning Bush
    • Evergreen Clematis
    • Fall Asters
    • Flowering Currants
    • Flowering Quince
    • Fritillaria
    • Garden Peonies
    • Garden Phlox
    • Ginkgo biloba
    • Grape-hyacinths
    • Handkerchief or Dove Tree
    • Harry Lauder's Walking Stick
    • Heathers
    • Hellebores, Lenten roses
    • Himalayan Sweet Box
    • Jack-in-the-pulpit, Cobra Lily
    • Japanese Anemones
    • Japanese Forest Grass
    • Japanese Maples
    • Japanese Skimmia
    • Japanese Spurge
    • Laurustinus viburnum
    • Lavenders
    • Lily-of-the-Valley Shrub, Pieris japonica
    • Mediterranean Spurge
    • Mexican Mock Orange
    • Montana Clematis
    • Mountain Ash
    • Oriental Poppies
    • Oriental Lilies
    • Paperbark Maple
    • Pink Dawn Bodnant Viburnum
    • Poinsettias
    • Oregon Grape Holly
    • Ornamental Kale
    • Peruvian Lily, Alstroemeria
    • Phalaenopsis, Moth Orchids
    • Persian Silk Tree
    • Portuguese Laurel
    • Rose of Sharon
    • Sneezeweed, Helenium
    • Snowberry
    • Snowdrops
    • Star Magnolia
    • Strawberry Tree, Pacific Madrone
    • Stewartia
    • Torch Lily, Kniphofia uvaria
    • Tree Peonies
    • Tuberous Begonias
    • Virginia Creeper
    • Weigela
    • Winterhazel, Corylopsis
    • Winter Camellia, C. sasanqua
    • Wintergreen, Gaultheria procumbens
    • Witch Hazel
    • Wood Anemones
    • Yews
  • Garden Tour Blogs
  • Monthly Flower Arrangements
  • Website Index
  • Subscribe
  • Need Help?
  • Garden Club Events