Tonglexuan

　　Destination Introduction
　　In 1985, Beijing built its first "panoramic cinema," located on the north side of the middle road in Dashilan, Qianmen, at the former site of the "Tongle Cinema." The predecessor of the Tongle Cinema was the "Tonglexuan" theater.

　　　　Tonglexuan was first built in the mid-Qing Dynasty and was called a "teahouse" at the time. Like many other teahouses in Beijing back then, it primarily sold tea, along with storytelling, opera performances, and traditional performances. By the end of the Qing Dynasty, it was converted into a theater, commonly referred to as a "theater house." "Tongle" covered a small area and was slightly smaller in scale compared to the Guangdelou Theater to the west. It had a similar design, with the stage facing south, and could accommodate seven to eight hundred spectators.

　　　　However, because both the stage and backstage were rather small, it was not very suitable for large-scale performances, so few theater troupes performed there at the time. Usually, it mainly hosted small-scale traditional performances and variety shows. During the Republic of China period, it was straightforwardly renamed the "Tongle Cinema" and focused mainly on showing films.

　　　　In the late Qing Dynasty, teahouses across Beijing were gradually converted into theaters to adapt to social development and business needs, such as the famous "Guanghe Theatre," "Zhonghe Theatre," and "Qingyue Theatre." Only Tongle remained "unique," retaining the name "Tonglexuan." To distinguish it from the others, this "Tongle" was specifically named with the character "轩" (pavilion).

　　　　Location: Located on Dashilan Street, outside Qianmen

　　　　Convenient transportation with multiple bus lines such as 120 and 22 arriving directly.  

　　 Chongwen District, Beijing

　　(No images available at the moment, contributions welcome.)