Binondo - Manila area, inhabited mainly by Chinese. It is Manila's Chinatown - the world's oldest, founded in 1594. Historically Binondo was the territory in which the Spaniards allowed to settle Christian converts among the Chinese immigrants, their wives and their descendants-Métis. Similarly, the Parian, the area near the historic district of Intramuros, was the place where the Spaniards settled Chinese immigrants, who did not take the Christian faith. And the name "Binondo" comes from the Filipino word "binundok", which means "the boondocks."

Located on the opposite bank of the river Pasig Intramuros, Binondo is a typical example of a small Chinese town. Residents of Manila and call it - Chinatown. This area is the center of commerce and trade, which are come from China. Interestingly, before visiting these places the Spaniards in 1521, Binondo was already a kind of "heart" of Chinese trade in the Pacific region.

Binondo is also considered the historical center of Métis Sangli - Chinese descendants and indigenous people of the Philippines - and their culture. That was a mestizo Lorenzo Ruiz, who became the first Filipino saint, canonized by the Catholic Church. His name was given to the area and Binondo Church, also known as Minor Basilica of St. Lorenzo Ruiz. Other Sangli - Reverend Mother Ignacia del Espiritu Santo - founded in the Philippines community of believers of the Virgin Mary.

In 1603 it happened in Binondo Chinese uprising, led by Juan Sante, a wealthy Chinese who converted to Catholicism. It began immediately after the visit to Manila three official Chinese officials, who have stated that they are going to look for gold deposits. Such a strange goal prompted the Spanish delegation to the idea of ​​a possible imminent invasion from China. In those years, the Chinese population was much higher than the Spanish in Manila, and the Spaniards were afraid that, in the event of an invasion, the Chinese flop over the side of his. The uprising was brutally suppressed by the army of the Spaniards, led by Luis Perez Dasmarinas. Subsequently, most of the 20,000 Chinese rebels were killed.

During a brief British occupation of Manila from 1762 to 1764 years, Binondo several times been subjected to massive bombardment, resulting in destroyed a number of historic buildings.

Before World War II Binondo was the center of banking and financial transactions, where the offices of insurance companies, commercial banks and other financial institutions from Britain and the United States. Banks were on the so-called "Philippine Wall Street" - street Eskolta. After the war offices of large corporations have moved to a new area of ​​Manila - Makati. Today, the land in Binondo is considered one of the most expensive in the country.