Professor Ruan Yisan was infuriated when he learned that an 80-year-old cinema near the People's Square was to be torn down to make way for a new cultural square compound.

The building, Zhejiang Cinema, originally named Chekiang Theater, was created by Laszlo Hudec in the 1920s, as one of the more than 60 projects the Hungarian architect designed in Shanghai.

The cultural square developer announced soon that the cinema would not be dismantled, but refurbished and used as a cinema.