As a New Yorker, it is very difficult for one to avoid the reality that we are indeed surrounded by Chinese culture. From Chinese take-out restaurants serving delicious Chinese food to entire Chinese communities such as the one in Chinatown, Chinese culture is all over the place. Chinese art, cuisine, religion, festivals, and more can all be experienced in one place. This is why New York is considered to be the cultural center of the world. People from all walks of life come to New York for various different reasons. In an attempt to experience Chinese culture first-hand, three places in the New York area come to mind.
First, there is the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET). It is located on 5th Avenue and 82nd Street, in the heart of Central Park. The MET exhibits collections of art from a variety of different cultures at different time periods. This includes a gallery of Asian art that displays Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and other types of Asian artwork from numerous time periods. The types of artwork that can be found in the museum include paintings, sculptures, antiques, scrolls and many other varieties.
The New York Chinese Scholar's Garden is another site that is filled with Chinese culture. Here, the visitor gets a great sense of Chinese architecture as they take a tour of a traditional Scholar's Garden that once existed as far back as 2,000 years ago in China. The New York Chinese Scholar's Garden is located within the Staten Island Botanical Gardens in Staten Island, New York.
The third location is a Chinese Buddhist Temple. There is an abundant amount of Buddhist Temples all across the five boroughs of New York City. A visit to a Chinese Buddhist Temple will expose the visitor to the essentials of Chinese religion. Buddhism spread into China during the Han Dynasty in year 1 A.D. and this lead to the development of Buddhist Temples in China.
The Mahayana Buddhist Temple
The best place to find Chinese Buddhist Temples in New