All the praise should really go first to this website: https://spectralcodex.com/hsinchu-guobin-theater/
For a long time, Taiwan had a vibrant cinema culture and even its own film industry. Those days are gone. Old movie theaters can’t compete with modern cinema complexes and Netflix anymore. I don’t want to sound like “grandpa telling war stories,” but I visited three places.
Cinema 1: Jinbao Theater
Located at No. 488, Zhongzheng E. Rd, Zhubei City. The building is still in use—there’s a large arcade on the ground floor. Some construction work seems to be going on. You can enter the building via stairwells, but the cinema floors are heavily locked up. (Otherwise, I probably wouldn’t give out the address.) People live in the rear section, but the whole building is quite old.
Cinema 2: Huangxing Theater (皇星影劇院)
Located at No. 295, Guosheng St, Zhubei City. It’s in even worse condition.
(forget it, sealed)
(photographed from below through a hole)
Cinema 3: Guobin Theater (新竹國賓戲院)
This place is considered haunted and is under camera surveillance. Every time I thought I had found a way in, I was disappointed. Since the building is considered structurally unsafe, two officials happened to pass by and opened a steel door. Even they didn’t dare to go inside—it looked pretty rotten and unstable. Unfortunately, I wasn’t allowed to take photos.
(forget it, more than 3 m)
My idea of quickly sneaking in was met with very little understanding. They explained that the building has many different owners, making a sale practically impossible. For that reason, it can’t be demolished either.
(maybe next time by Mr. X)
