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BEIJING, July 20-- Tickets sold like hotcakes and audiences burst into cheers as cinemas in most parts of the Chinese mainland reopened Monday, ending months-long closures meant to contain the outbreak of COVID-19. The China Film Administration, in a circular last week, allowed cinemas in low-risk areas to resume operation with effective epidemic prevention measures in place. "A First Farewell," an award-winning movie revolving around two children in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, was among the few new movies that hit the screen Monday, while many others were re-screened box office hits, including Chinese sci-fi blockbuster "The Wandering Earth" and 2017 animation "Coco." In many cities, tickets for Monday screenings were quickly sold out. Some cinemas offered discounted tickets for as low as 3 yuan (43 U.S. cents) to lure back fans who had switched to watching movies online during the outbreak. Despite the limited number of tickets available and mandatory wearing of masks, cinema operators hailed the reopening as a good start for them to return to profitability. According to Insun International Cinema in Wuhan, Hubei Province, before 3 p.m. Monday, all its tickets for the day were sold out. "The good ticket sales are beyond imagination. Monday is a workday, so we didn't expect so many moviegoers," said Chen Yabin, manager of the cinema. In Shanghai, audiences in a cinema cheered when the dragon-shaped screening license appeared on the screen, which marks the start of a movie in the Chinese mainland. | 
