Cebu City is the second most important and the oldest city in the Philippines. Cebu City has everything that Manila has, except thick traffic jams, unbearable chaos, noise and unimaginable crowds. That does not mean that Cebu City is an idyllic place, which could be compared with orderly European cities. Whoever is used to European 'order and discipline' would probably think that Cebu City has to be one of the worst cities in the world - until he or she visits the real hell of Manila.
Cebu City became known to the western world thanks to Ferdinand Magellan, although Cebu City used to be an important trading centre even before his birth. Cebu was a calling point of trade ships from Japan, China, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.
When Magellan landed at Cebu Island in April 1521, he quickly realised that due to its central position, favourable weather conditions and calm sea, Cebu would have been an ideal base of Spanish colonial forces. Magellan liked Cebu very much, but it probably didn't cross his mind that he is destined to stay there forever. Magellan was killed in a battle with locals. It is said that he was killed by Lapu-Lapu, the chief of one of the tribes from Mactan Island.
Cebu had a turbulent history. Spaniards managed to defeat the rebelling locals and colonised them for 500 years. In late 19th century Americans arrived. Locals rebelled against American colonisation, but eventually gave in. In World War II, Americans played an important role in Filipino battle against Japanese.
Notwithstanding rather upsetting history, the locals in Cebu City are incredibly friendly towards foreigners today. They genuinely accept every tourist as a guest, sometimes even as a friend. Not only because of the fact that the tourists bring much needed money to the poverty-struck Philippines, but also because Filipinos tend to be friendly by nature.
Frankly, Cebu City is not the place where you would want to linger longer than necessary. There are a few tourist attractions around town, but they are not as captivating as beaches of the nearby Bantayan Island.
If you have a chance, visit Cebu City on the last Sunday in January, at the time of Sinulog, the biggest, loudest and liveliest festival in Cebu City.