Binondo: The Hispanic, Austronesian Chinatown

The Chinese are an essential part of the social fabric of the Philippines. They make up just nearly 2% of the country population, but they control an awful lot of the country’s wealth. In the Philippines, you’re rich if you’re either Chinese or Spanish. The list of the country’s wealthiest proves that.

Binondo is Manila’s Chinatown. It claims to be the oldest in the world, having been organized by the Spanish more than 300 years ago. The Chinese were then seen as not only third-class citizens but also a threat to the conquistadores and the local populace. This perception by the colonizers was even worsened by petty Chinese revolts and Limahong’s failed conquest of Las Islas Filipinas. That is why the Chinese were banished from Intramuros, the heart of colonial Manila to settlement across the Río Pasig, from where Intramuros was least accessible.

Legend has it that the name Binondo was derived from binondoc, which means ‘mountainous terrain’ in the vernacular. That doesn’t seem very evident now that the district is covered with a sea of concrete blocks. Once upon a time, it was a hilly suburb of Manila, which also explains why the neighboring district to its east is called La Loma, Spanish for knoll. 

When the Americans came, the center of commerce of Manila shifted from the Hispanic quarter to the northern bank of the river. Today, Binondo and the surrounding neighborhoods of Santa Cruz and Calle Escolta make the city’s financial center. Though in the 60’s and 70’s, many of the country’s conglomerates made an exodus to the outskirts of Manila, Binondo still remains alive with commerce and trade, many thanks to its Chinese residents.

Turn of the century buildings such as 

this adorn this part of Manila, a 

reminder that this place was

once the commercial heart 

of the country

In this part of the world, 

the Chinese are predominately

Catholic.

Binondo, specifically the Chinatown, has two main access points. One is at the foot of the historic Jones Bridge and the other facing the old Santa Cruz Church. Both entries are adorned by the staple Chinese gates seen in most Chinatowns in the world. In most days, the best way to get around the district is by calesa, a horse-drawn carriage that was Manila’s main mode of transport at the turn of the last century.

Once lined with art-deco arcades, renaissance edifices and dotted with people in their suits and Sunday dresses, Binondo, as much of the rest of Manila, is in a state of urban decay. Since most of Manila’s more affluent residents, the Chinese included, have moved to the suburbs, the city is now ridden with mass migration coupled with haphazard urban planning and a mediocre city government which prides itself in making Manila the tackiest city in the country.

However, Binondo still bursts with life especially today, the Lunar New Year. This year marks the first time that the ubiquitous Chinese celebration was declared a national holiday. That was why Filipinos of all race, not just the Chinese, were all making a moshpit out of Binondo’s narrow streets. It was yet another wrong decision by the city’s government to open the streets to vehicular traffic on the holiday itself, despite having them ordered closed on the eve of the New Year. Traffic was creeping much less than snail’s pace and everybody was just walking it out on the streets.

Chinese decorations adorn the entrance
of the Santa Cruz church in celebration
of the Lunar New Year

The Binondo Church is Chinatown's most impressive

facade, a testament to the district's 

multi-cultural temperament

 Binondo, more than anything, is a place rich with history. No other district in Manila has a screaming pageantry of the confluence of the oriental and western cultures than here. Surrounding the central square of Binondo, called Plaza San Lorenzo Ruiz is the towering Binondo Church. Built by the Spaniards, it is the district’s central house of worship. It is quite a sore thumb in the sea of oriental flair but this Catholic church has a lot of Chinese elements, including an altar adorned with incense rather than candles.

Further on, along the side of the church, runs Ongpin Street, the most popular thoroughfare in the district. It is home to Binondo’s many famous eateries and Chinese food shops. Not a long walk from the Church was a little dingy restaurant Tasty Dumplings, said to be one of the most famous ones. Indeed, food was cheap but it felt a little commercialized perhaps because of its fast food ambience. Nevertheless there are a lot more places to satisfy the palate. From hopia stores to panciterias, Binondo is never short of supply. If it wasn’t for the pushy crowds and the parades of dragons and firecrackers, I could’ve braved to scour the alleys for better places to eat.

As superstition suggests, dragons ward
off bad luck from storefronts.

Speaking of dragons and firecrackers, they just seem to be everywhere. I am not stereotyping the Chinese or Chinatown, but yes, these things you see on TV when they show Chinatowns, they really are there. On every street there was a dragon parade and they danced to firecrackers. If you come close enough, you’ll not only see the dragons more closely but you will have also increased your risk of death by 34%. The fumes from the crackers are just nauseating as much as they’re suffocating. Nonetheless, it’s an exhibition of the Philippines’ multi-faceted culture. Here we have native dragon-dancers warding off bad luck from Chinese-owned stores in a Hispanic-named street. How cosmopolitan can that get!

Thousands of Filipinos flock to Binondo on Chinese
New Year. Cars can't possibly pass here.

At the end of day, with all its festive vibes and raunchy street performances, Chinese New Year in Manila is just like any other. To each his own, I’d always say. However, what Manila makes itself different is that through Binondo, it exhibits a melting pot of different polar cultures. It’s not a usual site in the Orient, which has since rejected colonialist inclinations since the fall of imperialism. Yet, the confluence is very much alive here as it is in the rest of the Philippines.  Dragons and Catholicism are what set this country apart from the rest of Asia.

Temperatures soar high here amidst the heat-trapping concrete facades of brutalist buildings. The esteros are clogged with trash and the streets are teeming with vagrants. In every display of small-scale capitalism, there is a juxtaposition of poverty. It may be uncommon in the Philippines but nowhere is it more pronounced than in Binondo. It is not deter travelers, the vista adds flavor to whatever cultural pomp and circumstance Binondo has been long parading. More than that, the district is a microscopic display of the Filipino psyche: tolerant, nonchalant and laidback. Evidently, Binondo is not about showing affluence or cleanliness, it shows the bear reality of Filipino urban life. Yes, we’re talking about Chinatown, but even this place can get very Filipino. After all, this is the Philippines. Everyone here can be an intsik, indio or even kastilaloy (Hispanic), but a Filipino never closes his door on the possibility of embracing another culture. It’s more than hospitality, it’s an attitude of open-mindedness to which this cosmopolitan culture traces its forebearings. This is what makes Chinatown unique and this is what makes the country different from the many others surrounding it. It’s not just Asian or Western, it’s practically Filipino.