Ruisui Chengdu Theater

Date CapturedMay 18th, 2018 at 09:18 UTCCameraNIKON D3100LensAF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED IIApertureƒ / 7.1Shutter Speed1/200 secFocal Length18.0 mmISO100Exposure Value13.3 EVOriginal Size3600 × 2400

Ruisui Theater (瑞穗戲院) was founded in the 1940s but was destroyed in a fire shortly thereafter. In response, the local farming association converted a warehouse into a temporary cinema, which is how the Nóngmín Theater (農民戲院), literally “Farmers’ Theater”, was born. Chéngdū Theater (成都戲院), with a capacity of 550, opened in the 1960s next to the Farmers’ Association, becoming the first modern cinema in Ruisui. It was in business at least until the early 1980s, and after shutting down it was eventually converted into an outpost of the Tǒngguān Supermarket (統冠聯合超市) chain, better known as Tkmart for short, around 2009.

I visited the theater in 2018 and wandered inside to look around. Although the building footprint matches that of a theater there are no identifying features inside or out, as you sometimes find in converted cinemas. A follow-up visit would be required to clearly establish whether any part of the original structure remains.