Wandan is a small town in Pingtung County. Like many small Taiwanese towns during Taiwan’s golden age of cinema, it had theaters. There were two theaters in Wandan, the Mianfeng Theater (綿豐戲院) and this one, New Ruifeng Theater (萬丹新瑞峰戲院).
I am not sure if Mianfeng Theater is still around, and I can find very little online about this theater. I can take a guess that it opened in the early to mid-70s and closed sometime in the late 80s or early 90s. But I just guess.
Anyway, let’s go and take a look.
I have come here three times over the years and have never encountered any people. It does seem that people are kind of using it. I’m not sure if it’s just for storage, a place to dump old bikes and garbage, or a quick prayer. I am pretty sure some people were living in it before, as there are a few beds in the back of the theater. It seems like a multi-use building now.
Let’s take a peek inside.
There’s not much left inside, but a lot of garbage. However, these chairs and the old silver screen are pretty cool.
There are lots of chances for life after people scenes.
I returned to this theater in January of 2024. I was surprised to see that it was cleaned up quite a bit. It was also easier to get into the old projection room. There are no projectors anymore, but the room is still pretty cool.
So the following pictures are from that visit in 2024.
The projection room.
The ticket booth.
A quick video.
There aren’t a lot of reasons to go to Wandan, but if you are in the area and want to check it out, go to 萬丹陳媽媽の古早味飯湯 (阿慧飯湯) and look across the road. It ain’t hard to miss.
So if you are in or around Wandan, stop by the theater and say hi!
Formosa>Ex 
I recall visiting Wantan on my bicycle in 1977, when I was in Pingtung for a year. I didn’t go to the theater or poke around much. A Taiwanese friend who was almost old enough to be my father was married to a woman from there. It had been a love match, something scandalous for the 1950s when they made it. They turned out well, though, and had a couple of beautiful daughters (which may account for why I wanted to be his friend(.
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Amazing. You must have a million great stories of those days in Taiwan.
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I may have a million stories, but few of them would rate “great”. Mostly, who I was then embarrasses me now. Your stories are better than mine ever could have been.
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Nice photo essay. I’ve never been there, but covered a couple of stories about the “mud volcano” that erupts every couple of years or so. The theater itself reminds me of going to a suburban cinema as a kid in the 1970s. Canvas seats in the front rows, and I once snuck into the attic and found it full of old theater props dating back to late 1800s.
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