Closed 2 Months Due To COVID-19, One Cinema In China Opens Again

Illustration (Pixabay)

JAKARTA - After two months of closure, one of the cinemas in China has reopened for the first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 or corona virus pandemic.

The Zhongying Golden Palm Cinema, in Urumqi (in northwest China) opened its doors to the public on Monday, March 16, after being closed since January 26.

Theaters informed viewers that they had scheduled 22 screenings the night before, four of which were Chinese.

"We can't be closed forever. We can only cooperate with the (government) notification, and test the situation, and see the response from the public, ”a man named Ding told Sohu Entertainment, which runs the cinema operation.

Parents who are members of the cinema can bring their children to watch free movies. Meanwhile, non-members have to pay US $ 1.4, or approximately Rp.22 thousand.

However, considering that the spread of the corona virus in China is still quite large, to this day there has not been a single spectator who has visited the cinema.

"If there are no new films, it makes no difference whether we open them or not. At the moment, we only have a few of these films; we have to wait and see if any new ones will be released."

This cinema does not provide online ticket booking once it has reopened to avoid overcrowding.

“We want everything to be relaxed. If the reaction is good enough, we'll slowly reopen it bit by bit, and if it's bad, we'll stay closed, "Ding said.

Since last January, at least 70 thousand cinemas have closed due to the corona virus. A number of film and TV projects in production have also been postponed or suspended due to the spread of the virus.