Up to this point in his lengthy report to the Emperor in 1590, Bishop Salazar focused mainly on local production of fine and exquisite export goods made by Chinese artisans in the Parián, not imports.  Of great interest is the variety of things the Chinese in Manila produced for local consumption, for themselves and especially for the Spanish community.  First of all, he noted that ay muchos ortelanos entre estos sangleyes, que en partes donde parescía no poderse dar nada, crían ellos muy mucha y muy buena ortaliça ansí de la de España como de la de México, y tienen esta plaça tan proveída como la de Madrid ó Salamanca.” (Trans: "There are many gardeners among the Sangleys, who, in places which seemed totally unproductive, are raising many good vegetables of the kinds that grow in España and in Mexico.  They keep the market here as well supplied as that of Madrid or Salamanca.")  (Salazar, in Blair and Robertson translation, p. 227). Of the variety of local businesses and services that responded to Spanish demands, Bishop Salazar noted the following with some rich personal commentaries: (Salazar, no pagination; translation in Blair and Robertson, pp. 226-28)

​Doctors and apothecaries (“médicos y boticarios, con rétulos en sus lenguas puestos en las tocias, que declaran lo que el ellas se benden”); these must have referred to Chinese healers and herbalists

Eating houses or restaurants, where even Spaniards came to eat.  (“bodegones en mucha cantidad donde acuden los sangleyes y naturales á comer, donde me diçen que también acuden españoles).  Here we see the forerunner of the ubiquitous Chinese restaurants wherever in the world Chinatowns were established, and where everyone in town enjoyed a good and cheap meal.

Bakers who made bread with the “wheat and fine flour which they bring from China, and sell it in the market-place and along the streets.”  (“Del trigo y harina que trahen de la China, ay muchos panaderos que cucçen pan y lo benden en la plaçca y trahen por las calles, de que á esta çiudad a benido mucho provecho…”)  Again, as with so many things the Chinese in the Parián made, the bread was “buen y barato,” that is, good and cheap.  These Chinese bakers also impressed Bishop Salazar in a good and unexpected way, for they extended credit to poor Spaniards when they ran out of cash:  “Y son tan combenibles, que quando alguno no tiene dinero para pagalles el pan, se lo dan fiado sobre traxa; y aconteçe comer muchos soldados un año entero desta manera, sin que los panaderos les dexen de acudir con todo el pan que an menester, que a sido par esta çiudad un gran remedio de pobres; que si este refuxio no tubieran, padesçieran muy grande nesdesidad.”[13] The extension of credit to the poor, especially for food, would become another common practice by Chinese shopkeepers throughout the Americas.  It also appeared that Chinese food vendors, rather than colonial administrators, provided the safety net for poor Spaniards of Manila, who included many soldiers.

Vendors of meat and fowl.  “Provéenos también de carne, de la que se cría en esta tierra, puercos, benados, carabaos, que son los búfanos de Italia, y es tan buena carne como de baca.  Venden también muchas gallinas y gaüchos, que sy ellos no los vendieran, padesçiéramos todos nesçcesidad.”[14]

Woodcutters (leña partida)

Fishmongers, whose seafood supplies are plentiful and hence cheap.  (“Y lo que más á esta çiudad tiene sustentada, es el pescado que estos sangleyes trahen á vender, porque es tanto lo que cada día toman, que anda sobrado por las calles, y lo dan tan varato, que por un real se merca pescado para comer y cenar en una casa de los principals.”)

Stone masons, who build for Spaniards their homes, churches, monasteries, hospitals and a fort; they also make good bricks and roof tiles (ladrillo y texas) “at low cost and good quality” (“varato y muy Buenos”).  Again, Salazar could not resist comparing cost and quality with construction work done in Spain: “Que con ser en España las obras de piedras tan costosas y dificultosas de haçer, se haçen casas de sillería buenas y varatas, y con tanta brevedad, que dentro de un año ha abido hombre en esta çiudad que ha hecho casa para vivir en ellas. Y bánse hacienda muchas casas, y muy sumptuosas, y yglesias, monasteries, ospitales y un fuerte, todo con tanta brevedad, que es cosa de admiración.”.  Furthermore, instead of having to deal with different vendors for the many materials needed to build a house, they bring everything: “…ellos cortan la piedra y trahen la arena, y dándoles cal, ponen ellos todo lo demás; y deste manera dan la cassa ó la obra hecha con mucho descanso del dueño…”  Here, along with good and cheap, Salazar added another quality of Chinese workers:  speed and efficiency. While they knew how to negotiate good prices for their work, they were always reasonable.  “Y saben los Sangleyes aprovecharse muy bien del tiempo, y vender sus cosas más caras quando saven que ay dinero para comprallas; pero nunca se encareçen tanto, que no queden las cosas en muy buen preçio.”

Garden farmers and fishermen (hortelanos y pescadores), which required them to locate near arable fields and the coast, so exceptions were made regarding residency requirement in the Parián."

It was clear from the bishop’s rich and detailed descriptions that the main purpose of Chinese business activities and enterprises were set up to meet Spanish needs, desires, and policies—in other words,  “to reconstruct Philippine life using the standards of Castilian culture.”  (Bauzon, p. 61)  By penetrating every aspect of Spanish life in Manila, the ubiquitous and industrious Chinese built a close daily relationship with Spanish colonial administrators and residents, from governors and bishops to penurious soldiers.

Finally, from constructing stone houses, the Chinese learned to repair and build Spanish galleons in the shipyard of Cavite in Manila Bay, using a strong local wood called by the Spanish madera de taca, whose resistance was found to be very appropriate for a “trip of such distance and danger.”  Sails using raw materials from Cebu were produced by Chinese artisans in nearby Iloco, and metals brought from China, Japan and Macao by the Portuguese “were worked by Chinese blacksmiths,” at first supervised by Spanish and Mexican masters.  So strong were the ships built in Cavite that they were famously labeled “Castillian fort on sea.” (Almazán, p. 15) ________________________


^{[13] The bakers were “so accommodating that when one has no money to pay for the bread, they give him credit and mark it on a tally; it happens that many soldiers get food this way all through the year, and the bakers never fail to provide them with all the bread they need.  This has been a great help for the poor of this city, for had they found this refuge they would suffer want.”  (Salazar, in Blair and Robertson translation, p. 227)
[14] “The Sangleys sell meat of animals raised in this county, as swine, deer, and carabaos (a kind of Italian buffalo, whose flesh is equal to beef).  They also sell many fowls and eggs; and if they did not sell them we all would suffer want.” (Salazar in Blair and Robertson translation, p. 227)}