“To the tourists it is known as Chinatown. To the Filipinos the area is known as Binondo”
This place is actually a haven for food lovers and for those who wanted to taste an authentic Chinese cuisine without going to mainland China. A lot of reviews online about Binondo are about where to eat and where to buy stuff. Just a couple of walks away from LRT’s Cariedo station lies another district of the capital city of the country that has a rich historical values on how the Filipinos and the Chinese people has the so called “brotherly” bond through the years.
It actually started way back 1594 when this Chinatown was established by the Spaniards as a settlement for Catholic Chinese only, it was established in that area just beside the walled city of Intramuros so that the colonial rulers could keep a close eye on their migrant subjects. The Spaniards also gave a land grant for Binondo to a group of Chinese merchants and artisan of perpetuity, tax-free and with limited self-governing privileges. Over the years the Chinese mestizo of Binondo grew rapidly because of the pure Chinese who intermarried native Filipina.
The Chinese Goodwill Arch is the key structure that signals that you have arrived and entered the Chinatown. There are also several arches that act as a spatial marker to welcome visitors into different cultural sphere and once you pass the arches you can find icons, institutions and features typical of Chinatown. You may also find the street signs in bilingual and sometimes trilingual a combination of Filipino, English and Chinese characters with decorations such as a dragon.
There are actually four arches built along the streets of Chinatown all of them were built through the funds raised by the Tsinoy community. One of the most prominent arch is the “Filipino-Chinese Friendship Arch” located just behind the the newly inaugurated “China Town Arch” along Quintin Paredes Street near the intersection of San Vicente Street. This arch serves as a gateway to Chinatown if you’re coming from the South.
Just along the street of Ongpin you can already see two erected arches over the two bridges, the first one is the Ongpin South Bridge (Manila-Beijing Friendship Bridge) it’s the arch along the street crossing Estero de la Reina and the second arch is the Ongpin North Bridge (Filipino-Chinese Friendship Bridge) this is the arch that crosses Estero de San Lazaro. These two arches don’t have any message or value to impart in their inscriptions other than to “Develop Metro Manila” and “Support New Society”.
There are actually four arches built along the streets of Chinatown all of them were built through the funds raised by the Tsinoy community. One of the most prominent arch is the “Filipino-Chinese Friendship Arch” located just behind the the newly inaugurated “China Town Arch” along Quintin Paredes Street near the intersection of San Vicente Street. This arch serves as a gateway to Chinatown if you’re coming from the South.
Just along the street of Ongpin you can already see two erected arches over the two bridges, the first one is the Ongpin South Bridge (Manila-Beijing Friendship Bridge) it’s the arch along the street crossing Estero de la Reina and the second arch is the Ongpin North Bridge (Filipino-Chinese Friendship Bridge) this is the arch that crosses Estero de San Lazaro. These two arches don’t have any message or value to impart in their inscriptions other than to “Develop Metro Manila” and “Support New Society”.
Lastly, the fourth arch that serve as another gateway to Chinatown especially if you are coming from downtown Santa Cruz or the Plaza Santa Cruz just infront of Santa Cruz Church or t the end of Ongpin Street. This is the “Arch of Goodwill” symbolizing the (hopes of, at least) expression of goodwill between the Filipinos and Chinese community in the city, and perhaps to some extent, between the Philippines and China.
More than the arches that stood still in the streets of Binondo is the cultural bonds of Filipinos and Chinese for the past centuries that exists till today. It’s a brotherly bond that no one can ever destroy as we are Filipnos already adapted some of the Chinese cultures and values. Today Chinatown in Binondo, Manila is recognized as the oldest Chinese community in the world with restaurant, business establishment’s, streets and alleys that conveys the atmosphere of “little China” that incorporates Filipino traditions which mean more than just having a taste of traditional Chinese culture and tradition.
More than the arches that stood still in the streets of Binondo is the cultural bonds of Filipinos and Chinese for the past centuries that exists till today. It’s a brotherly bond that no one can ever destroy as we are Filipnos already adapted some of the Chinese cultures and values. Today Chinatown in Binondo, Manila is recognized as the oldest Chinese community in the world with restaurant, business establishment’s, streets and alleys that conveys the atmosphere of “little China” that incorporates Filipino traditions which mean more than just having a taste of traditional Chinese culture and tradition.