Guangzhou Old Cinemas Go with the Tide

Children's Cinema

 
China has a long history of film making and as surprising as it may seem, between the founding of the PRC in 1949 and the beginning of the reform and opening up, the country boasted more cinemas per inhabitant than any other country in the world. In the countryside, these were mostly mobile theaters which would travel from village to village showing the latest film from Beijing, Shanghai or Guangzhou. But in the big cities, movie theaters could be found everywhere. Guangzhou's old cinemas were all well known to the locals, but in just in less than two decades, most of these venues have disappeared, replaced by roads, high rise apartment buildings and shopping malls.

 

Guangzhou Cinema

 
In the 1970s, cinemas in Guangzhou were divided into two grades. Most cinemas were second grade which meant comfort was basic and the quality sometimes debatable. In the whole of Guangzhou, only four cinemas were first grade and their tickets were sold 5 cents more than ordinary tickets. Seats on the balcony in Jinsheng cinema were the most expensive in Guangzhou, reaching an incredible ... 0.3 Yuan. The 1990s saw the end of these small public cinemas and the beginning of today's huge private cinemas. As a result, prices increased dramatically to reach between 50 to 100 Yuan a seat.

 

Jin Sheng Cinema

 
Guangzhou's Old Cinemas:

- From west to east on Zhongshan Road there were Zhonghua Cinema, Er'tong (Children) Cinema, Xinxing Cinema, Xinhua Cinema, Hongqi Cinema, Dongshan Cinema, Tiegong Cinema and Houqin Cinema.

- South of Zhongshan Road was found the very famous Jinsheng Cinema, Ping'an Cinema, Changshou Cinema, Meihua Cinema, Guotai Cinema, Jiefang Cinema, Yonghan Cinema, Yan'an Cinema and Yigong Cinema.

- Further south on Yanjiang Road and Changdi Road were located Guangzhou Cinema, Xihao Cinema, Yangcheng Cinema, Haizhu Cinema and Nanguan Cinema.

Liwan District
Changshou Cinema 长寿电影院	1930~ 2003	Changshouxi Road 长寿西路长寿大街
Jin Sheng Cinema 金声电影院	1934 ~ 2007	Enning Road 恩宁路宝华路口
Zhonghua Cinema 中华电影院	1929~2001	Zhongshanqi Road 中山七路
Yuexiu District
Yangcheng Cinema 羊城电影院	1921~2004	Changdi Road, No. 248 长堤大马路248号
Xinhua Cinema 新华电影院	1933~1995	Zhongshanwu Road 中山五路
Xinxing Cinema 新星电影院	1926~1995	In front of  the People's Park 人民公园前
Xihao Cinema 西濠电影院	1931~2005	Renminnan Road 人民南路西濠二马路
Guangzhou Cinema 广州电影院	1942~2005	at the junction of Yanjiangxi Road and Renminnan Road 沿江西路和人民南路交界处
Jiefang Cinema 解放电影院	1931~1995	Jiefangnan Jiefangnan Road 解放南路
Nanguan Cinema 南关电影院	1924~2000	Beijingnan Road 北京南路
Ertong Cinema (Children's Cinema) 儿童电影院	1949~2007	Haizhuzhong Road, No. 249 海珠中路249号
Meihua Cinema 美华电影院	1948~2005	Changshouxi Road 长寿西路
Dongshan District
Dongshan Cinema 东山电影院	1930~1987	Zhongshaner Road 中山二路菜园北街
Haizhu District
Henan Cinema 河南电影院	1960~2001	Hongde Road 海珠区洪德路

Nanguan Cinema

 

Xihao Cinema

 
(By Kobe Gao, David Keyton)

Source: Lifeofguangzhou.com

Editor: Chen Minjie