Moviegoers to enjoy discounts as Shanghai cinemas reopen

After remaining closed for two months, 205 cinemas in Shanghai will reopen starting on Saturday, according to Yin Xin, an officer at the news office of the municipal government, during a news conference on Thursday.

In addition, the city will launch a subsidy initiative to encourage people to go to the movies. The initiative involves providing moviegoers with a 10-yuan ($1.40) discount for each ticket bought on mobile ticketing app Taopiaopiao.

The discount, which will apply to the first 20,000 movie tickets sold every day, will last from March 28 to April 26. Each person is limited to four discounted tickets.

Yin pointed out that moviegoers will have to undergo a temperature check, present their health QR code and wear a mask to watch the movies. The cinemas have also been instructed to observe social distancing rules by leaving a seat empty between each patron.

Besides cinemas, many cultural and tourist sites have also started to reopen their doors to the public. Wang Wei, a senior supervisor of the municipal culture and tourism administration, said that 87 class-A scenic sites, 110 museums and galleries, 40 libraries and 4,200 hotels in Shanghai were reopened as of Wednesday.