The Peace Cinema began its operations in 2004 and remains one of the most popular cinemas in Shanghai to date. This is in large part due to its proximity to the People’s Square. Built at the corner of the Raffles City mall building with a conical shaped glass front, the cinema gives a typical American theater vibe.
Its claim to fame is not only due to its central location though. It is one of the only venues in the metropolis that shows movies on the much-coveted IMAX screen. This was specially imported from Canada and has been a big reason for Peace Cinemas pull on the local viewers. The venue has about 6 viewing rooms and the capacity to fit up to 1,069 moviegoers at a time. The cinema gets a lot of walk in traffic from the mall crowd and guests from the nearby People’s Park.
Getting there to watch a movie is also made quite convenient with ready subway and buses access. Line 14 of the Shanghai Metro has the stop closest to the theater. Lines 3, 15 and 16 also have stops at Xizang Middle road which is where the cinema is located. Opening time is 08:00 and movies are shown throughout the day till the cinema closes at 23:00. The management runs local movies in Chinese, sometimes with English subtitles tacked on. The place is one of the top picks for watching international movies and blockbusters as soon as they hit the market. These movies are scheduled to be shown dubbed in Chinese and at times in English with Chinese subtitles. There is also capacity to run 3D movies, the best viewing of which is on the 5th level within the 4K+ Atmos Hall. Viewers can get their fill of fine picture quality and the best sound effects there.
The ticket booth is located at the entrance of Peace Cinema. Prices of movies are all over the place starting from RMB50 to RMB180, depending on a lot of variables. These include whether the film shown is local or international, ticket bought physically or online, prime evening time or morning/ afternoon slow periods, 3D version or simple 2D and how long the movie has already run for from its release date. For popular movies it is recommended to book tickets well in advance if the first show is what the viewer is after! And at 10:00 daily, there is a discounted showing of popular movies for a low-cost option. All major credit cards are accepted for payment.
Since the cinema is attached to the mall, there are a lot of options for food nearby. There is a dedicated snack area where moviegoers can get their popcorn, drinks and other edibles at a reasonable cost. Should that prove inadequate, there is even a larger than life Hershey’s store next to the ticket booth with the most delectable candies under one roof. If you’re still hungry after the movie, try the KFC right next door to satisfy savory cravings.