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The hollow shell of the former Guobin Theater (國賓戲院) still stands on the east side of Hsinchu City. Established in 1982 with investment from the owner of Lemin Theater (樂民大戲院), this entertainment complex had cinemas on the third and fifth floors.
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It struggled to draw crowds throughout the 1980s and eventually resorted to hosting adult performances (牛肉場) by 1987. Police raids put an end to that in 1991 and the theater closed shortly thereafter. The building has been mostly abandoned since then, and moving into the 2010s it earned a reputation for being a hazardous building, with debris occasionally falling on the cars parked in the lot below.
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Warning: this location is abandoned, hazardous, or otherwise neglected and may be unsafe and even dangerous! Exercise appropriate precautions when visiting.
警告：此處已廢棄或長期無人管理，可能存在潛在危險。造訪時請務必提高警覺，並做好相關安全防護措施。
Map
Sources
- Hsinchu City Theater Chronicles, Hsinchu Municipal Cultural Center, 1996 《新竹市戲院誌》，新竹市立文化中心，1996
Themes
- Theaters in Taiwan (台灣老戲院)
- Urban Exploration in Taiwan (台灣城市探險)
- Taiwan Mixed-Use Buildings (台灣住商混合大樓)
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Author
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I am a web application developer, photojournalist, urban explorer, and history enthusiast passionate about the open web and documenting my experiences on this planet. This project was founded in the early 2010s and has evolved into a sort of personal Wikipedia of places that interest me (and often the photographs I’ve taken there). I’m originally from Toronto, Canada, but spend most of my time residing in Taiwan.