Chinatown Museum: A Look into My People's Past

- Feb. 4, 2021, Friday.

- Since it was Chinese New Year season, I thought of doing something to honor my heritage. Since I was out for errands in Chinatown, I thought it'd be convenient to pay the Chinatown Museum a visit. The Chinatown Museum was opened in 2018 in the Lucky Chinatown Mall annex. I've actually been there before, though I wasn't able to take photos then (I still can't remember why.) Due to the pandemic, they temporarily closed until the Chinese New Year this year. They're normally open everyday, though for now, they're only open from Fridays to Sundays.

- The Chinatown Museum feels like a small Bahay Tsinoy, which is a big museum in Intramuros that presents the story of the Chinese-Filipino (Chinoy/Tsinoy) community. Chinatown Museum concentrates on the Binondo Chinatown in Manila. By the way, did you know that Binondo Chinatown is the oldest Chinatown in the world? It was established in the 1500s when the Spanish came to the Philippines.

Binondo Church model.

Let's begin the tour.

- The small museum takes people back to the early days of Chinoy history through their representations of stores, rooms, restaurants and other places where Manila's Chinoys created spaces for themselves. While most Chinoys today are known to be in the middle to upper classes, the earliest Chinoys lived simple lives until many of them prospered in the following decades.

Old stores owned by Chinoys.

Old sewing and ironing equipment.

Mestizo-sangley house.

Stealing is wrong but I was hungry. (No, they weren't real food. Also, no, I didn't actually touch the fake food.)

Simple and cramped living quarters.

Woodworks.

- Some of the oldest stores and restaurants still stand today in Chinatown, and are shards of history that continue to let everyone experience a bit of the past. They are also honored in the museum. Most Chinoys engage in business, and some of those businesses were passed on from generation to generation.

Representation of the Destileria Lituaco, which is still in operation today. A museum of the distillery is in Intramuros.

A representation of the old art supply store owned by the children of Roman Ongpin, in Binondo.

An old Chinese pharmacy.

An example of an old Chinese restaurant. Polland, by the way, is still selling their famous Chinese pastries until now!

- My favorite part of the museum was the model of the Tranvias de Filipinas. Visitors can go on the model tram. This was one of the forms of public transportation in Manila from 1888 until 1945 (end of World War 2). Speaking of the War, there is also a portion of the museum dedicated to the Chinoys who fought and served the Philippines during the War.

Running for government? HAHA.

My pets.

Horseracing or Track and Field?

- The museum itself was not too big, and parts of it are under renovation. However, I truly enjoyed my short stay in the museum - especially since I was mostly alone while going around. I am actually aware of my people's history in the Philippines (being Chinoy myself,) but it is always nice to be reminded with visual aids like the museum's displays.