Originally called Xiongshi Theater 雄獅戲院, this was the first theater built on Kinmen. It went through a few name changes over the years and finally ended up with the name Nanxiong Recreation Center 南雄育樂中心.
Opened in 1960, it was known as the rose in the desert, as it gave the people of Kinmen and the soldiers some entertainment. Kinmen was very far removed from the Taiwan mainland and was often bombed and under the threat of bombing. So some form of entertainment was very welcome.
Someone on Instagram told me that they watched a movie here in 1997 or 1998. So it probably closed down shortly after that.
The projectors are still there.
Here are a couple videos inside the theater.
There is also a memorial to the Second Strait Crisis, known as 八二三炮戰 in Chinese.
Here are a couple of blog posts by Taiwanese. This blog shows what the theater looked like in 2010. This one is from 2013.
The land is now owned and used by the original landowners. We asked if we could go in and look around and they said yes. It’s pretty easy to find and if you go and there are people around ask first before you go in. And say hi to the chickens!
Formosa>Ex 