The Hsinchu Image Museum, which tells about Taiwan's movie history, is itself part of that history, as the building was the country's first air conditioned theater showing movies upon its completion in 1933.

The roof and auditorium were destroyed during the bombing of Hsinchu by the Allied Forces in 1944, when Taiwan was still a Japanese colony, but it was rebuilt and later reopened as a movie theater in 1946.

The theater was closed in 1991 and became derelict, until the city government stepped in and began a project to reimagine the building as an image museum.

The museum now has a multi-function studio for performances and a 90-seat screening room where movies are played on weeknights and all day on weekends.

It also features the different movie projectors used between 1933 and 1991, as well as the history of Taiwan's movie industry.

The museum is located in the old district of Hsinchu City, which has 26 historic buildings in a one-square-kilometer area, the highest density among Taiwan's remaining blocs of old buildings.

(By Lu Kang-chun and Kay Liu)
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