IN PHOTOS: Lunar New Year 2025 at the Sugbu Chinese Heritage Museum

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The Sugbu Chinese Heritage Museum is the first Chinese museum outside of Metro Manila

CEBU, Philippines – The sound of drums and dancing dragons greeted guests at the Sugbu Chinese Heritage Museum during the Lunar New Year celebration in Cebu City on Wednesday, January 29.

For the grand holiday, Filipino-Chinese families were given the opportunity to take a peek into Cebu’s past that is closely intertwined with the early days of Chinese immigration to the Philippines.

Vinch Layon, museum experience specialist, told Rappler that the celebration was a special milestone for the Sugbu Chinese Heritage Museum — the first Chinese museum outside of Metro Manila.

The museum hosts olden relics and replicas of items that archeologists and historians believe were used for 20th-century trading and sea voyage. One can find records of the old Cebu port, which is said to have been a convergence point for Chinese and Filipino businessmen.

REPLICA. A miniaturized version of the Chinese Junk or sailing ship can be found at the center of the Sugbu Chinese Heritage Museum.

For this year’s celebration, the museum has prepared special Chinese book reading sessions, creative plaster painting for children, and an exhibit on zodiac-themed postage stamps from the collection of Richard Allan Uy from the Cebu Stamp Club.

There are also side exhibits that showcase Chinese ceramic collections and garments from well-known Filipino-Chinese luminaries like Elizabeth Gan-Go, Billie Po, and Felisa Chiongbian.

Guests can also participate in the Prosperity Tree Angpao Hanging event where they can write their “new year wishes” on a piece of paper which they will then place inside the angpao (red envelope) and hang on the golden prosperity tree like a lucky charm.

“Each angpao hung on the golden prosperity tree carries heartfelt wishes for abundance, health, and success — spreading positivity and joy to all,” the museum’s sign read.

PROSPERITY. In Chinese folklore, the golden prosperity tree is believed to bring good fortune and wealth to families.

The Gotiaoco Building and its museum

The Sugbu Chinese Heritage Museum is located inside of the Gotiaoco Building.

“In 1914, Manuel Gotianuy, the son of Don Pedro Gotiaoco, established the Gotiaco building and named it after his father,” Layon said.

According to the specialist, it was no other than Cebuano tycoon and founder of the University of Cebu, lawyer Augusto Go, who donated the building to the foundation. Go is the son of Gotianuy and the grandson of Gotiaoco.

The restoration of the building began in July 2016 and was completed in 2020. The Cebu City government declared it a heritage structure on December 12, 2012.

The museum was then established after an agreement was signed between the Sugbu Chinese Heritage Museum Foundation Incorporated and the National Museum of the Philippines on September 23, 2013.

DANCE. Dragons “soared” in front of the 110-year-old Sugbu Chinese Heritage Museum during the Lunar New Year celebration on Wednesday, January 29.

China and Cebu

Based on records at the museum, Go Bon Tiao, a Chinese immigrant who became the well-known Don Pedro Gotiaoco, came to Cebu in the 1860s after Cebu’s shores became open to international trade.

“The [Cebu] port was host to both local interisland and Asian traders before the Spanish arrived in 1521, as proven by archeological excavations nearby that yielded trade wares, including those from Sung to Ming periods of China,” the museum’s database read.

Many local historians have pointed out the prosperity experienced by Chinese migrants upon entry to Cebu, noting that large shipping and manufacturing companies originated from the shops of traders who dealt in products like copra and sugar.

DRESS. Filipino-Chinese guests tried on the traditional vestments like the qipao and gunlongpao at the museum.

“From only six recorded Chinese residents in Cebu in 1830, the number rose to thirty in 1857, 611 in 1870, 1,032 in 1885, and 1,503 in 1893,” reads an excerpt from Filipino historian Resil Mojares’ The Book of Go.

According to the historian, the Chinese community found its home in the lutao district which comprised small stores and lodging along Manuel Cabahug Briones Street, Magallanes Street, and the Carbon Market in Cebu City. – Rappler.com