北港戲院

August 21st, 2017

Beigang Theater (北港戲院) in Beigang, Yunlin, is among the finest and most well-preserved of Taiwan’s remaining Japanese colonial era theaters. Established as Hokkō-gekijō (北港劇場) in the 1930s with investment from a local businessman Tsai Yu-Hu (蔡裕斛), this three-storey theater featured a revolving stage, seating for 800 guests, and simple Western-style façade with a trace of the Baroque Revival architecture popular at the time. It was not only a cinema—Taiwanese opera, glove puppet shows, musical concerts, wedding banquets, and other events were also held inside. The theater went out of business in 1988 and was converted for use as a department store and restaurant for some time thereafter. Nowadays it is apparently still in use as a pool hall and, inexplicably, a kidney dialysis center, but I saw no evidence of this when I visited in the summer of 2017.

Beigang Theater is still in great shape despite being repurposed and disused for the better part of three decades.

A closer look at the front of the old theater reveals several minor details. Note the character in the center of the ring at top; this is the family name of the original investor. Also note the mounting points for four square plates; these would have once displayed the name of the theater.

Beigang was formerly home to four theaters of which this is the second. For this reason it was generally known as New Theater (新戲園) back in the day. The nearby Dàfù Theater (大復戲院), which dates back to 1927, was designated a heritage building in 2009 and is presently undergoing a costly restoration process. Despite its obvious historic and cultural value Beigang Theater itself is not yet protected by law, and I’ve not seen anything that would suggest this process is moving forward. I’d guess this has more to do with resistance by the current owners than a lack of interest on behalf of the Ministry of Culture. For an excellent overview of theater history in Beigang I recommend this post (in Chinese) and accompanying video by Yú Fū (魚夫), in mixed Taiwanese and Mandarin.

An oblique look at the old theater in the cramped streets on the north side of Beigang.

Somewhat surprisingly I haven’t found too many posts about this classic theater. For vintage photos and more information in Chinese try following these links: here, here, and here.

Map

Recorded On

May 31st, 2017

Sources

New Taipei Gold Museum Report: In Search of Old Theaters, Hsinchu Municipal Cultural Center, 2019 《新北市立黃金博物館「尋找老戲院身影」》，新竹市立文化中心，2019

Themes

Japanese Colonial Era Taiwan (台灣日治時代)
Theaters in Taiwan (台灣老戲院)
Unrecognized Cultural Assets in Taiwan (未登錄的文化資產)

Series: Taiwan Summer Road Trip 2017

In the summer of 2017 I borrowed a scooter to ride to a music festival in Nantou and only returned it several months later. It wasn’t a continuous road trip—I’d leave the scooter parked at various HSR stations as I slowly made my way around central and southern Taiwan—but each leg of the trip usually involved 3 or 4 days of riding. In the end I gathered enough material for 60 or 70 posts, only some of which have been published.