Manila Chinese Cemetery

The Chinese Cemetery was established in the 1850s to give Manila's Chinese, Catholic or not, a burial ground of their own, and what grew there over the following century is unlike any other burial ground in the country: laid out on a street grid, with family mausoleums built as small houses - some with air conditioning, plumbing, kitchens, letterboxes and chandeliers, in styles running from Chinese temple through art deco to postmodern - so that relatives could stay with their dead during visits and at Qingming. It has been called a city for the dead with some justification. Among the graves is a memorial to the Chinese-Filipino resistance of the Second World War. Guided tours run and are worth taking: the cemetery is large, the layout is confusing, and the histories attached to particular families are the point.

History

Before it existed, Buddhist Chinese were buried on a hillside at Bangkusay in Tondo. In 1843 the Governor-General allowed the Chinese to open a cemetery at La Loma, and it was founded in the 1850s by Lim Ong and Carlos Palanca (Tan Quien-Sien). In 1863 Lim Ong, then gobernadorcillo of the Chinese community of Binondo, bought land to enlarge it into a proper burial ground for Catholic and non-Catholic Chinese alike, and it also took those refused burial in the consecrated ground of the neighbouring La Loma Cemetery, such as victims of contagious disease. A later gobernadorcillo, Mariano Fernando Yu Chingco, bought more land from the Dominicans in 1878 for ₱14,000. It served especially the poor, who could not afford to send their dead home to China; today it covers about 54 hectares (Wikipedia, Manila Chinese Cemetery).

What to look for

• The mausoleum streets - family tombs built as houses.
• The architectural range - temple styles through deco to modern.
• Chong Hock Temple - at the end of the main road from the Felix Huertas gate.
• The war memorial - to the Chinese-Filipino resistance.

When to go

Mornings for light and cooler walking. Qingming in early April brings families in large numbers and is the most active time. It is quiet on ordinary weekdays.

Practical notes

It is a working cemetery - families visit, and photography of mourners is inappropriate. The area around it is rough in places; a guided tour is the sensible way in. Watch belongings.

Nearby

Binondo and Chinatown are south; the Quiapo district and Manila's centre are close.

Key facts