豐田大同戲院

February 11th, 2024

Datong Theater (大同戲院), a mid-sized theater with accommodation for 650, was established in 1960. The Central Cross-Island Highway opened that same year, ushering in a new era of development in the Huadong Valley. Many of the settlements in eastern Taiwan doubled or tripled in population as tens of thousands of military veterans emigrated to take up work in government-sponsored farming projects, forestry, and other sectors. Fengtian in particular underwent a dramatic transformation after the start of the jade mining boom in 1965. As the only theater operating in town throughout the 1960s it must have been a lively place after working hours.

The scene upon arrival during my 2018 road trip down the Huadong Valley.

A medley of industrial textures on this old theater in rural Hualien.

An oblique look at the dilapidated Datong Theater.

With the crash of jade prices in the early 1970s the local economy collapsed, laborers left in droves, and ultimately this theater closed around 1974. For a time the interior was subdivided into small rooms and rented out to prospectors and other workers. Although it was neglected for decades it wasn’t entirely abandoned, and by the new millennium some effort had been made to repurpose it for use as a traditional market, with varying amounts of success. By the mid-2010s it was again used for little more than storage.

The newly refurbished Datong Theater in the summer of 2024.

I visited Datong Theater on a 2018 road trip down the Huadong Valley, finding it derelict and inaccessible one gloomy afternoon. Returning in 2024, I was delighted to find it had been lightly restored and converted into a community events space, dessert café, and gift shop back in 2023. It isn’t at all obvious from the front of the theater, which still looks rather rundown, but the rear entrance opens into the café, and the events space is also accessible from the side.

One of the stalls out front doesn’t look like it has moved in six years.

A closer look at the graffiti piece now mounted where movie posters were once displayed. It displays the name of the town, Fengtian (豐田), with a variant for the first character (豊). “Since 1913” refers to the founding of Fengtian (or Toyota) as a Japanese immigrant village.

The refurbished Datong Theater from around back.

Inside the old theater hall, facing toward the original entrance. Nothing remains to indicate its age and there is no sign of the former projection booth.

Looking back across the event space. The café and gift shop is in the illuminated extension at the back.

A glimpse inside the café and gift shop. It was built as an addition to the original theater building.

Preserving Datong Theater is a rare success story in eastern Taiwan, where the few remaining vintage theaters are razed to the ground year after year. The only other former theater in Hualien restored and opened to the public is Zhongshan Hall (中山堂) in Lintianshan Forestry Culture Park (林田山林業文化園區). (The vintage Ruiwudan Theater (瑞舞丹大戲院) in Fuli occasionally opens for film screenings by the original owners, but its future is somewhat uncertain.) It is especially heartening to see Datong Theater in use for the Taiwan European Film Festival (TEFF) in December 2024. May it continue to enjoy a second life as a community space for many years to come.