Kinmen Wind Lion Shopping Street and Golden Lion Cinema will close their operations, leaving Kinmen facing the dilemma of having no cinemas

Kinmen Wind Lion Shopping Street, owned by Taikai Group, posted a "Closing of Business Announcement" without warning today. Not only will the duty-free shops and other counters be removed, but Golden Lion Cinemas, which has been with Kinmen people for 12 years and once had Asia's first giant-screen 4D motion-sensing flagship movie hall, will turn off its lights after October 31, leaving countless movie fans reluctant to leave.

"Shiisa Shopping Street" posted an operational adjustment announcement on Facebook stating that due to adjustments to the overall operation plan, its counters will be closed one after another, including the Shishaya Duty Free Shop until October 15 this year, and the Golden Lion Cinema until October 31.

Wind Lion Shopping Street said that along the way, Golden Lion Cinema has accompanied many Kinmen folks to spend movie time one after another, and Wind Lion Duty Free Shop has also accompanied countless tourists and folks to leave shopping and travel memories. Every encounter and every bit of support is very precious.

Kinmen's "only two" cinemas, after the "Guobin Cinema" that was upgraded to the Evergrande Duty Free Shop, closed its operations on May 4 this year, the only remaining Taiwanese "Golden Lion Cinema" will also turn off its lights on October 31.

After learning that the last cinema in Kinmen was about to close, netizens reacted with dismay. Some people said they "want to cry", while others said, "It's so miserable. I want to fly back to Taiwan or go to Xiamen if I want to see it on a big screen."

The Kinmen Wind Lion Shopping Street is the only and largest BOT (private participation in public construction) project of the Kinmen County Government, and its name is "Kinmen Industrial, Commercial and Leisure Park". The Kinmen County Government cooperated with the Taiwan Industrial and Commercial Development Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of the Taiwan Land Development Corporation (Taikai Group), to sign a 50-year BOT contract; the scale of the base covers a total area of ​​7.45 hectares.

It is understood that due to the ups and downs in cross-strait relations and the impact of the Wuhan pneumonia epidemic, Taikai's operation of Shishiya Shopping Street has been repeatedly frustrated. In the 12 years of operation, it is initially estimated that the loss has exceeded 3.3 billion yuan; there are currently about 30 employees in the park.

The Kinmen County Government stated that the BOT contract signed with Taikai includes the construction and operation of "warehousing and logistics", "duty-free retail commercial facilities" and related ancillary businesses, covering a wide range of projects. Does it violate the contract to declare the closure of individual projects of Taikai? The county government said it would further discuss the matter with the entrusted project manager and Taiwan Development.