Rural Cinema in Yueqing Revives

The old rural cinema, which had been silent for decades deep in the mountains, ushered in the long-lost bustle. Villagers walked into the cinema and sat on the wooden chairs, chatting and laughing; the lights gradually dimmed, and the clips from the old black-and-white movie“Tunnel Warfare” were projected on the snow-white curtain that an exciting and fascinating world slowly unfolded before their eyes;“Tunnel War, Hey! Tunnel War. Myriad of soldiers hide from sight…” The majestic and determined melody made audiences extremely passionate. the Zhuangwu Cinema located in Zhuangwu Village, Longxi Township, Yueqing City, Wenzhou made its“first projection”. Local villagers enjoyed a wonderful feast of lights and sounds on their doorsteps.

“The last time I watched a movie in this cinema was more than two decades ago. I didn’t expect to watch a movie here again!” Bao Tianhua, the local 68-year-old villager, who had learned that the old cinema would be reopened, invited her two best friends early in the morning to watch the movie together. They couldn’t hide the excitement and took out their mobile phones to take photos and record that moment. In memory of 9/18 (on September 18, 1931, the Japanese army invaded China), the first projection of the Zhuangwu Cinema was the old black-and-white anti-Japanese film“Tunnel Warfare”. At 10:30 am, an orderly formed team of children wearing red-scarves walked into the cinema --- 109 students from the Longxi Township Primary School came to watch the film and sat down quietly. The exciting plot, heart-wrenching battle scenes and professional audio-visual effects quickly immersed them in the story.

The Zhuangwu Cinema is built next to the Longxi River. Its old-fashioned quartz façade, quaint foyer on the first floor, and tall ticket office all completely replicate the appearance when it was first opened in 1981. Walking into the cinema, you may find the walls, columns, red wooden chairs, and other things present the elegance of the old cinema in a retro way. In the 1970s and 1980s, the moso bamboo industry was prosperous in Zhuangwu Village. In 1981, the village collective invested a huge sum of 300,000 yuan to build the three-floor cinema, which covered an area of 600 sq m and could sit about one thousand people. Later, with the popularization of television, around 2003, the cinema gradually declined and closed. In 2013, its roof collapsed, and the building was abandoned.

The Zhuangwu Cinema not only witnesses the past prosperity of the village, but also carries the beautiful memories of many villagers. In May 2022, based on the concept of rural cultural revitalization and the principle of“renovating the old as before”, the Longxi Township Communist Party Committee and Government spent more than 1.3 million yuan to restore the cinema, which took more than a year to complete.“The cinema replays old black-and-white movies in a nostalgic style and is open to the villagers free of charge, so as to arouse their rural cultural memories and make the cinema an important cultural front in the countryside.” He Ruidong, secretary of the Longxi Township Communist Party Committee, said that taking culture as a medium to activate the original rural resources is applied for achieving new development. In the future, with film playing, opera performing, and various ways of cultural performance, the cinema will be built into a cultural landmark to attract popularity and facilitate the construction of the rural cultural base.(ZhongXin)