Source: The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43839-2003Oct17.html

On October 18, 2003 The Washington Post reported that an exhibition of Buddhist relics thought to belong Gautama, also called Shakyamuni Buddha, and other Buddhist masters will be displayed Oct. 25 and 26 at Giac Hoang Temple in Northwest Washington. According to the Post, the temple is "planning for 10,000 exhibit visitors, many of whom told organizers that they will be coming by bus from Philadelphia, Richmond and other cities throughout the region." Washington's Buddhist population includes immigrants from a range of Asian countries, and Nhyguyen Ngoc Bich, a founding member of Giac Hoang, the oldest and largest Vietnamese Buddhist temple in the Washington area estimated that "' 75 percent of the area's 50,000 Vietnamese Americans are Buddhist. The number of Chinese, Korean and Filipino Buddhists each could exceed that of Vietnamese Buddhists,' he said. Bich said Buddhists who view the relics will likely demonstrate a wide range of devotion, depending on individual piety and ethnic and cultural background."