Lesbian Hook Ups in the Grand Cinema on the Bubbling Well Road

Came across a reference the other day to the tale that the Grand Cinema, once known to Shanghailanders as ‘the best cinema of the Far East’, on the Bubbling Well Road (now the Grand Theatre on Nanjing West Road) was formerly a hotbed of illicit fun. Apparently, in the 1930s, the matinee performances were known for lesbian Shanghailanders sitting alone in the dark waiting to see who would sit next to them and then….Anyway, it’s a lovely Hudec-designed art-deco picture house so why not hook up in style!