Starbucks in Forbidden City to be Forbidden Soon?

It may be the Forbidden City, but apparently this Imperial-Palace-turned-tourist-attraction in Beijing, China, wasn’t so forbidden to Starbucks (it opened a store there in 2000).

Now, thanks to Chinese bloggers, the coffee shop’s days may be numbered:

One of the most incongruous sights of the globalised age - the Starbucks coffee shop inside Beijing’s Forbidden City - could soon be a thing of the past after a furious online campaign for it to be relocated outside the palace’s 600-year-old walls.

In response to this latest demonstration of “netizen” power in China, the guardians of the ancient site have announced plans to review the presence of the Seattle-based coffee chain. A decision on its future will be made within six months, the local media reported today. [...]

According to local media, half a million people have signed his online petition and dozens of newspapers have carried prominent stories about the controversy. "The Starbucks was put here six years ago, but back then, we didn’t have blogs. This campaign is living proof of the power of the web", said Rui. "The Forbidden City is a symbol of China’s cultural heritage. Starbucks in a symbol of lower middle class culture in the west. We need to embrace the world, but we also need to preserve our cultural identity. There is a fine line between globalisation and contamination."

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August 18, 2007 at 12:31 pm by Alex
Category: Travel & Places

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9 comments to "Starbucks in Forbidden City to be Forbidden Soon?"

sly
August 18th, 2007 at 12:50 pm
Where can someone go to sign the petition?
Miss Cellania
August 18th, 2007 at 2:21 pm
Those yuppies who live on Starbucks are going to be surprised to hear themselves referred to as “lower middle class.” I always considered the term to mean more of the Archie Bunker strata.
Lady Cooper
August 18th, 2007 at 3:37 pm
Good riddance, I say. Having a Starbucks there is just crass.
Mrs B
August 18th, 2007 at 5:59 pm
I work for the evil green and they are indeed closing. They sent an email statement to the stores.
L
August 18th, 2007 at 10:04 pm
Why can’t it be outside the city? If you need caffeine that badly…
ngszehin
August 18th, 2007 at 11:28 pm
This is a very old news (half a year ago). The store is CLOSED already and a new Chinese coffee chain has been open inside the “city” already.
William
August 19th, 2007 at 1:34 pm
lol, i saw this when i was in China two years ago. It was so ridiculous. I have a picture of myself standing in front of it making the peace sign.
Chris
August 19th, 2007 at 2:47 pm
“new Chinese coffee chain has been open”

mmmm…. what’s the ‘quality’ of the Chinese netizens? maybe we should “griffith” their Ip adresses…

12.5.5.5 wu@grand.ministry.of.economic.war.com ….
Solo
August 20th, 2007 at 4:16 pm
Glad to see the Chinese bloggers revolt against the right thing: that evil corporation that want to sell them, O gasp, coffee.

In the mean time, military dictatorship as a government: free pass.

Also, when it’s about flooding the world with cheap crappy stuff by the containerload while exploiting their own citizen in factories with no workers’ rights, I don’t see no blogger outcry. That’s your cultural identity right there.

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