If you haven’t seen this place, you need to go.  Originally a Chinese medical clinic, general store, community center and residence, Kam Wah Chung gives you an incomparable glimpse into the past. This remarkable site, a National Historic Landmark, is located in the town of John Day, and includes a museum and a separate interpretive center.

The museum was built in the 1870s, possibly as a trading post.  This tiny, unassuming building became home to two Chinese immigrants, Ing “Doc” Hay and Lung On.  Both became locally famous:  Lung On as a general store proprietor and businessman, and “Doc” Hay as a practitioner of herbal medicine.  For 50-some years, the building was a social, medical and religious center for the Oregon’s Chinese community.

Learn more about Kam Wah Chung by watching an Emmy nominated documentary produced by Oregon Public broadcasting.

An ADA-accessible interpretive center across the street from the museum is open daily.  In 2011, the center opened a new exhibit, detailing the life and times of Doc Hay and Lung On.

Access to the museum itself is through guided tours only.  Tours of the museum start at the top of each hour at the Interpretive Center and last about 45 minutes (last tour at 4 p.m.).  Free tickets for this tour can be picked up at the Interpretive Center.

Open daily May 1 - October 31, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.