CHCP Doors Open Tour: Gilded Altars and Lost Chinatowns of San Jose

Doors Open California is the largest statewide celebration of historic places in California offering exclusive, behind- the-scenes access to historic and culturally significant places across the Golden State, with special tours, talks, and once-a-year experiences designed to connect the public with California’s layered history. Enthusiasts of historic architecture, design, and cultural heritage will have access to over 75 sites across the state on the weekends during the month of September 2026. Registration is a flat fee of $20 per person to access all sites (children and students are free).

CHCP's Chinese American Historical Museum (CAHM) at History Park in San Jose will be one of the featured sites of Doors Open California: 

On September 5, 2026, at History Park, Doors Open registrants will receive a special presentation, Gilded Altars and Lost Chinatowns of San Jose, at 10:30 am in the Renzel Room inside the Pacific Hotel. The presentation will be followed by a private museum tour at 11:30 am at the Chinese American Historical Museum, a replica of the late nineteenth-century Ng Shing Gung temple. Highlights include artifacts from five former San Jose Chinatowns and the original 1888 gilded altar—one of the most extraordinary surviving Chinese temple altars presented in the United States.

For more information (including parking, directions, slideshow, and virtual tour): visit our Museum page.

REGISTER FOR DOORS OPEN