My Own Private Cinema

Well, not really. This is 5 minutes before the film (Batman: The Dark Knight Rises) was due to begin and my wife and I were the only people there. Unfortunately 2 more people arrived shortly after so we couldn't quite claim it as our own private cinema - but almost!

Now the reason there were only 4 of us is two-fold. Firstly this showing was at 10.30 in the morning (no work today - hooray) so it's not really peak time. Secondly the cinema is in a slightly out of the way place. However, there are 3 big universities quite close by and now that many students are returning for the new semester the cinema will probably get quite busy.

Recent years have seen something of a boom in the opening of big-screen multiplexes here in Nanchang (and in China as a whole). There seems to be a new one opening somewhere in the city every two or three months and they are just like those in the west. It is yet another sign of the growing wealth of China's 2nd and 3rd Tier cities and the desire of their citizens to enjoy a modern western lifestyle (for good or bad).

China does place a limit on the number of foreign films that can be shown each year, though this is not so much to do with censorship as it is to protect the domestic film industry. Most foreign films have screenings in both the original language with Chinese subtitles or are dubbed into Chinese, so for those of us from English speaking countries we still get to enjoy a trip to the movies now and then.

Strangely there is no film classification system in China so sometimes you get families going to see movies with little kids that are totally inappropriate, which can be a pain if said kids are running around during the film. Luckily we didn't have that problem today :)

(by Andy Meek)

ps, if you've not seen Batman TDKR go and see it! Well worth the cost of the ticket